


Colliding Worlds

by pherryt



Series: Colliding Worlds [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Supernatural
Genre: Hammer of the Gods, M/M, Strong Language, Stull Cemetery, The Cage, Weeping Angels - Freeform, established Destiel, possible season 11 spoilers, the bunker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-29
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-05-23 16:03:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 54,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6121899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pherryt/pseuds/pherryt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens if the Doctor meets our boys? When the supernatural meets the other wordly? Can the boys expand their worldview to include aliens??</p><p>A fun exercise in colliding worlds...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Stranger in the Bunker

**Author's Note:**

> The first chapter here CAN be read as a stand alone but is meant for a bigger story...this may come out slower than my other fics but I am totally going for it.
> 
> Anyway, I got inspired to do this for a few reasons:
> 
> 1, I just think a Supernatural / Doctor Who crossover would be fun but I haven't really seen any that I like (If you have any you think are worth a read, point me at 'em!)
> 
> 2, I have seen (both on Tumblr and on Pinterest) different versions of a gifset where the Doctor shows up in the Bunker unannounced. He obviously knows the boys but they don't know him. But he's come too early in their time stream and asks about Deans husband, Castiel, who isn't actually his husband (yet) and I always find that funny.
> 
> This pretty much contains that scene, but with a little bit of a twist.
> 
> About the Art - I thought I'd play with watercolors for this story. The original ones i made for the first chapter have been taken down. i hate them too much. I'll try again later.
> 
> P.s. Titles are HARD....

  
  


Dean was in his room with the ginormous headphones that Sam kept making fun of him for over his ears when he heard it. A really strange, whining, wheezing – honestly, it was unhealthy! – sound that pierced through the loud music.  At first, he thought his headphones were malfunctioning, as the sound seemed to fade in and out, louder, softer, louder and louder, than softer again….before getting really loud and finally coming to an abrupt stop. 

About all he could figure, when he took the headphones off to look at them in frustration, was that it had not actually been his headphones, but had come from elsewhere in the Bunker. The problem was, Dean couldn't even _think_ of anything in the Bunker that could make that sound. Which begged the question, what did?

Jumping up from his bed and grabbing the gun and demon blade from his bedside table, Dean darted out of his room and down the hall to where he believed the sound had originated from. Slowing down to carefully move his way through each room, he was joined by his brother, similarly armed. Though the brothers knew that nothing could get past their wards without permission, they still tread warily through the empty map room and finally into the kitchen.

Wedged into the corner of the room was a tall blue box that read "Police Box" near the top. The door was slightly ajar, emitting a warm glow from within. A quick glance could be seen between the brothers, both their faces reflecting equal parts measure of surprise at the sight and apprehension about what could be in the Bunker and of course anger that someone – or some _thing_ – had come in uninvited. They quickly turned their gazes to the opposite ends of the room.

 It was Sam who saw him first. With a shout of Dean's name, both of them leveled their sights on the man in the blue suit and messy hair who was currently buried head first in their fridge. At the sound of their voices, the man straightened up and whirled about, a wide grin on his face as he let the fridge shut behind him.

"Ahh! Sam! Dean! I knew I'd find you here. Excellent, now all we're missing is your husband." He shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked backwards on his feet slightly before bouncing forward and settling in, staring at Dean on the last word, no evidence of fear or wariness on the strangers face. Dean spluttered.

"What the hell? Who the hell -?" Before he could finish, the stranger spoke again, releasing one hand from his pocket to wave it around.

"Oh, you know, tall, messy hair, trenchcoat and tie, blue eyes, angel of the lord? That husband?" His face paled and the stranger dropped his hand. Wait…oh, oooooh…was that spoilers? I'm sorry, so, soooooo sorry, I didn't mean to…Maybe I should…get going?"

"Yeah, thanks for that description, but I think I know who my husband is. I wanna know who the fuck you are." Dean ignored the confusing jumble of words when he realized there was no way to make sense of them and narrowed in on the ones he _did_ understand.

"Oh…ooooh. No spoilers than. That's just brilliant!" He narrowed his eyes and looked at both Sam and Dean with a piercing gaze. "But then, why…of course!" He clapped his hands together, his body bouncing forward in excitement once again, a grin blooming back onto his face. "Well of course, you wouldn't remember! Oh this is…I always did wonder when we met…" His jumbled words did nothing to appease Dean or answer his question. While he was busy trying to make sense of the words the stranger had spouted – nonsensical sentences did rather seem to be his forte -  Sam cut in with his own questions.

"And I want to know how you and your…police box got past our wards."

"Right, we-e-ell, of course you'd want to know that. Can't say I blame ya. Well, basically, your wards keep out monsters, spells, supernatural influences and anything that intends danger, am I right?" The brothers nod slowly. "Right then. Easy enough. I'm not a monster, and I didn't use magic." He continued to beam at them as if that had explained everything.

"That…doesn't _actually_ explain how you got in, only why you weren't kept out. And that doesn't even track, because here you are. And there's no way you lugged that thing down here by yourself, by hand without us noticing." The stranger continued to grin that boyish grin, but Dean could see his eyes looked old. Really old. Not quite as old as an angel maybe, but still old. Waving a single finger, the man spoke again.

"No, you're definitely right about that. Always the smart one Sam, got to give you that. Brilliant!"

"Answer the fucking question, asshole, or I _will_ shoot you."

"Always a bit trigger happy there, aren't you Dean?" The stranger sighed, but still completely unconcerned with the violence he was being threatened with. "I'm the Doctor, and I traveled here in my TARDIS – which stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. Go ahead and write that down Sam, I know you like to take notes. Basically, gentleman, she's a spaceship that doubles as a Time Machine. So, no magic whatsoever. It's all science."

"Doctor what?" The Doctor blinked, as if Dean's question surprised him.

"Just the Doctor. No other names necessary. Now if you two wouldn't mind, I _really_ don't like guns. Could we put those away and talk like civilized people? I assure you, that we _are_ friends. It's just that I've already met you, a long time ago, as a matter of fact and on many occasions, but this appears to be the first time you've met me."

Dean cocked his head and his eyebrows did that funny quirk it got when he was thinking, his mouth twisted up and his arms started to slack as he ran that sentence, and its implications, through his head a few times.

"That…doesn't even make any sense. Not any real sense."

"Dean, why not?" Sam wasn't exactly whispering but he was talking low enough that his voice did not carry across the room. "If he can travel through time, then it's obvious what he means."

"Yeah, but I don't believe it. Time Travel? Without the Angel Express? I don't see how. I'm not buying it."

"It's not magic Dean, or divine power, its plain old science. There have been theories and speculations on the nature and possibilities of Time Travel since, freaking forever man." Dean could hear the capital letters and he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, okay, but how does it work?"

"Wibbly Wobbly, Timey Wimey….Honestly, it's pretty advanced stuff, hard to boil it down to the current level."

"Oh, that’s it, now he's insulting us." Dean's arms picked back up, re-aiming the gun right at the strangers head.

"Dean!" Sam said sharply, trying to get his brothers attention back on him and off the Doctor.

"What? He shows up in _our_ Bunker, _inside_ our wards, fucking unannounced, man, and with no believable explanations? He's lucky I haven't _already_ shot him!"

"Let's just all calm down and go sit down and talk. I, for one, would like to hear more about your TARDIS and how it works."

"Brilliant. Allonsy!" The man bounced over to the table and dragged a chair out. He dropped into it and placed his converse covered feet on the table, crossed at the ankles. He lounged back in his chair with crossed arms and stared at the brothers expectantly.

As Sam excitedly sat down across from the…Doctor, as he insisted on being called, like it was a fucking name, Dean reluctantly lowered his gun and put it away, keeping it within easy reach. Mumbling, he made his way on sock clad feet to the fridge to grab himself a beer, than leaned back on the counter so he didn't have to sit at the table next to the odd stranger.

"Right, what do you want to know? Ask away!"

"I have so many questions – time travel, space travel – wait, are you an alien?" Sam leaned forward in his eagerness and his eyes widened suddenly at the thought that the apparent man before him could, in fact, be an alien. It wouldn't surprise him. A lot of monsters could pass for human until their true natures were revealed.

"Forget all that Sam. The real question is, _why_ is he here?"

"I just thought I'd pop in for a quick visit. Nothing to be worried about."

"Yeah, man, just. No. How about, I don't really believe that."

"I forgot about your trust issues Dean. But never mind that now, totally understandable, life you've led and all that. To be honest, no idea why I'm here." The Doctor jerked a hand to point his thumb over his shoulder. "She did the piloting. Has a mind of her own, my girl does."

"Wait…is she alive?" Sam hesitated over the gender pronoun but then just figured it was like his brother and the Impala. Meantime, Dean rolled his eyes and took a swig. If Sam was excited before, that was nothing on what he looked like now. He withheld a groan and sent up a quick prayer to his Angel to warn him of the stranger in their midst.

No sooner had he done that then Castiel appeared in the Bunker. Dean had never been gladder than when Cas's wings had been restored after all the shit that went down with Lucifer and the Darkness and freaking Chuck. Chuck! The prophet who was _supposed_ to be dead because _new_ prophets weren't called till the old ones were gone. At least that's what Castiel had told them, way back when.  And yet here he'd been, after Kevin's turn to shine had come and gone.

Dean and Sam first thought Chuck was a ghost or something equally dead and supernatural. Or maybe a skinwalker who'd for whatever reason picked Chuck to imitate. Yet all those ideas had proven wrong in the long run. No, it could never have been as simple as that. Chuck turned out to be God, and wasn't that just a kick in the ass?

So Dean had punched him in the face.

He'd immediately regretted the action, just as he'd done when he'd punched Cas after that Zachariah douche had trapped him in the Beautiful Room. Cas had barely reacted. Dean thinks he purposely moved his head to 'lead' the blow so it didn't hurt Dean quite as much as it could have. But that was just his own assumption. He'd never asked, not wanting to bring up what was very obviously a painful subject after Cas lost his shit on him when things were coming down to the wire for the Ultimate Cage Match. True, he'd had reason but….

His musing thoughts as he stared at his husband – oh if there was such a thing as actual perfection in the world, he was pretty sure he was staring at it – were interrupted as the Doctor jumped up from his seat at the sight of Castiel.

"Castiel! So nice to see you again!" the man beamed at the confused angel, who responded by stepping closer to Dean, as if putting himself between them.

"My apologies, do I know you?"  The Doctor sighed in response.

"Apparently, not yet."

"How – I don't understand …"

"Time travel, Cas. This man is a time traveler." Sam called out from where he remained at the table. And, yup, the dork had a notebook and a pen. Dean snorted and took another swig. Cas swung his gaze from the Doctor to Sam and back again. He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes.

"He's not a man."

"Ooi…I'm not a human would be more accurate." The Doctor gave a cheeky grin as Dean spluttered around a mouthful of beer.

"Monster?" he growled in question.

"No, he's not that either. He is not of this Earth if you want to be precise."

"So you _are_ an alien!" Sam pounced excitedly. "Do all aliens look human or is it just you?"

"There are a number of aliens that look human and many others that simply look humanoid but could never actually pass as full human, but there is indeed a great variety of other odd and wonderful creatures out there in the Universe." The Doctor answered easily. "It's why I travel so much. There's so much to see, and I'm not limited to the present."

"That must be exciting!"

"Oh, you boys must understand how fun it is to time travel – you've done it often enough."

"Okay, dude, how do you know that?"

"Weeeell, aside from the fact that we've been friends a while and we've traded stories, I know it because I can see the evidence written in your genes of your time travel."

"Come again?"

"Time travel isn't easy. If it was, everyone would do it. There's a component necessary to protect one from the effects of time travel. It's inherent in Time Lord genes, and anyone who travels in the TARDIS, or really, any similar device with the proper sequencing, can also gain the molecular stability required to travel through time as a permanent affect. Actually, I don't think I can recall how the two of you managed to contract the symbiotic nuclei necessary for that, as it is _decidedly not_ inherent in humans."

"Sam and Dean have traveled both through time and other dimensions through the affects of an angel."

"Ah, that would explain it then. I forget that Celestial beings have that ability, seeing as you are actually the first I ever met. Time Lords of old wrote about Celestial beings but it was thought to be great myths."

Sam was scribbling away in his notebook furiously, while Dean stared at the Doctor and his husband in horror and disgust. Pulling away to start pacing, he glared at Castiel, sparing no more glances or attention to the alien in front of him.

"I can't believe…you…you _infected_ me? With _parasites?_ Cas! What gave you the right?"

"If you recall Dean, I was under orders at the time. And they are completely harmless. Not even really a life form. More like a genetic atom." He paused and tilted his head. "That may not be the best analogy. But I assure you, you have not been infected by parasites and you are quite safe."

"Okay, this day is just…getting too weird for me, man. And coming from me, you gotta know that’s saying a lot." Dean ran a hand through his hair as he placed his empty bottle on the counter and gripped the counter with his hand, facing away from everyone in the room. His mind whirling too much to even register that he'd turned his back to an unknown man – stranger – god, _alien_! But even if he had, he'd trust Cas to have his back any day. He'd proven it too many times before.

"I understand Dean." Cas stepped closer to his husband and placed a hand on his shoulder. "If it makes you feel any better, I don't sense anything evil or wrong about this Time Lord, and the wards wouldn't have let him in if he had ill intentions."

"Are you saying we should trust him, Angel?" Dean turned his head to look into his husbands mesmerizing blue eyes. Cas nodded solemnly. Dean let out a sigh and dropped his head for a moment, now leaning on both hands against the countertop. "Fine, fine. I'm going to bed. Let's leave the nerds to talk nerdy stuff." He looked up and straightened away from the counter, dropping one arm away to grasp at Castiels waist instead. "You comin'?"

"Of course, Dean. In fact…" Before the Doctors eyes, Castiel and Dean disappeared in a fluttering sound and matching grins on their faces.


	2. Morning Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean is having to listen to Sam who is having some sort of a weird existential crisis about the existence of aliens. Oh god, make him stop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there might be a little bit of a plot firming up here. :D
> 
> also, I HATED the watercolors I did in the first chapter. So i got rid of them. I like the one I did for this chapter MUCH better. its been so long since I've done any of watercolor pictures that i guess i needed a few flops to get back into the swing of things?
> 
> 4 full pages and 1/4 of a fifth

  
  


It was late the next morning before Dean crawled out of his room and headed back to the kitchen. Groggily, he wondered if their intruder was still there. He hit the map room first and came to a dead stop, the hand scratching at the back of his head frozen in place.

The table had exploded with books and papers and Sam was hunched over one book while scribbling away furiously in another. The laptop lay open beside him with multiple news tabs open. Nobody else was in sight. Well, that didn't necessarily mean anything. The place was huge, after all. That doctor fellow could be giving himself the grand tour or something.

Dean frowned. There was something about the guy – alien – whatever! – that made him want to trust him. Not that he did, of course, not exactly. Not at all. Really. Okay, maybe a little. He couldn't seem to help it. Dean wasn't one to trust easily and this was really bothering him.

To be honest, the only thing that made it even a little bit okay at all was that Cas didn't seem worried. Then again, Cas had once worked with Crowley and thought it was a good idea.  Dean paused in his reflections. A thought about stones and glass houses tried to push its way into the forefront of his thoughts. He shook his head. Bridge. Water. Moving on.

"Did we get a case while I was sleeping or what?" it wasn't that the sight in front of him was really all that unusual, more that he didn't expect it seeing as how quiet things had been recently on the monster front. Chuck seemed to finally be taking responsibility for how out of control things had gotten. He may want humans and angels to experience free will, but there had to be some sort of balance to the world or there would be plenty of people who missed out on opportunities to really exercise that gift. The average Joe, after all, just didn't get a say in things such as, well, for example, _The Apocalypse_.

Sam looked up in surprise, his hand stilling. He glanced from Dean to the clock on the wall and back again. He dropped his pen and groaned, leaning back in his chair and stretching his arms above his head.

"What? Oh! No, actually. But ummm… " Sam yawned, opening his mouth wide, eyes squinting shut, before dropping his head back down to eye his brother. "So get this - "   
  
"Jesus Sammy, it's too early for this crap. Let me get some damn coffee first at least." Before he could take another step towards the kitchen – and while his brother was busy giving him one of his many bitch faces which, well, Dean had cataloged all of them, but honestly, he was too tired to identify which one this was -  his husband popped in to stand next to Dean, the flutter of wings behind him being the first clue to Cas's presence. He leaned back slightly towards Cas and inhaled, smiling happily. Honey with a hint of ozone. That was the second clue of course. Damn angel was obsessed with honey and bees, not that he was complaining of course. It was just too adorable. Not that he'd admit it anywhere where Sam could hear him.  
  
"Where's the Doctor?" Castiel glanced around and noticed that the blue box was missing. He hooked a chin up and over Deans shoulder and closed his eyes in contentment as he rested his head against Deans, his arms coming up to wrap around husbands waist. Sam didn't even blink at their sleepy morning affection, all too used to it by now. He was just glad they'd finally gotten with the program and realized how much they really meant to each other.

He was also pretty certain that Chuck had hit them both over the head with a giant frickin' clue bat or something. He wouldn't put it past the squirrely guy – Sam still really couldn't take the idea of Chuck being God seriously - and if anybody had needed a wakeup call, these two had been the poster boys for one.  
  
"Oh, he left last night. Or was it this morning? You know, I don't actually remember."   
  
"Well, that was a quick visit. And good riddance." Dean muttered as he stepped into the kitchen to prep coffee for both Cas and himself, dragging Cas along with him. He was even nice and made some for Sam, though he reflected that maybe he shouldn't be that nice, considering how many times Sam had killed the coffee supply without sharing it.

It was not long after before they had joined Sam at the map table, books and papers shifted aside to make room for mugs and protect the ancient Men of Letters texts from accidental spillage. Still only half awake, Dean stared at the spines of the books in the closest pile to him, trying to decipher their titles and figure out just what Sam had been working on, if it wasn't for a case. As he looked at the amount of books and papers littering the table, he realized how much time they represented and he turned towards his little brother with a look of disapproval on his face.  
  
"God Sammy, did you the two of you just stay up all night trading war stories?"

"What? Uh, no, no of course not. What would make you think that?"

"Have you even been to bed yet?"

"Of course I have." Sam was real good at lying on the job when he needed to, but it was hard to hide the truth from someone who had practically raised you. Dean was hip to all his tricks and he narrowed his eyes. He took a sip, his gaze leveled at Sam disbelievingly. It didn't take long for his little brother to break. "Okay, fine. No I haven't. Happy now? What difference does it make?"

Castiel just watched the brotherly exchange with a fond and indulgent smile, sipping at his own coffee and continuing to sit quietly. Dean sighed and slouched in his chair, putting his feet up on the empty chair opposite of him and banging a knee on the underside of the table when he did so, resulting in another bitch face from Sam as some of the papers fluttered to the floor. Sam made a big production of putting his things back in order. Or maybe it was just a big production of selecting a few choice items, Dean belatedly realized as his brother cleared his throat and tried again.

"So get this…after talking with the Doctor last night about a few things, I did some research into unexplained incidents from all over the world. And I think I have a new explanation for them. Do you remember back in Christmas oh, around 2006 I think?" Sam paused and shuffled some papers around. "Yeah, 2006, all those people all over the world who were sleepwalking? It got passed off as some sort of prank, a uh…a flash mob." Sam shrugged in confusion at the term he had used but barreled on.

 "Anyone with enough sense could tell that was a weak story at best. Now at the time, we thought that it was obviously some sort of supernatural activity being covered up, but that whatever it heralded had never come to fruition. The mystery, as I'm sure you're aware, was that no one knew the cause or who stopped it, since there was no one in the hunter community even owning up to it. And you know how some of these guys can get. We may have to cover up a lot of what we do, but in the community itself..." he trailed off, willing his implications to take root and get Dean invested in the conversation.

Dean waved a hand dismissively and took another sip of his coffee. He frowned at his mug. Damn. Almost out already. He had a feeling he'd need multiple cups to deal with whatever Sam was intent on dishing out.

"Yeah yeah, hunters are just big ol' gossips."

"Right, which was why this and certain other incidents stuck in my head." Dean nodded in agreement. Sam hated a mystery. Well, hated really more for the idea that it was unsolvable. He actually liked mysteries as long as there was a chance of unraveling it, of piecing together what had really happened. The kid got a lot of satisfaction out of it, like it was a goddamn puzzle. The dork. He nearly snorted into his coffee and winced at the idea of almost having splashed hot water into his face. Thankfully, he had not.

"Okay. I get why _you're_ messing with this so many years after the fact, but why should we care about something that’s already over?"

"Because I was thinking…it never fit any sort of lore I could find. Not the commonly held stuff, or anything here at the bunker, though of course I haven't had the chance to check _everything_ just yet." Sam started off on a tangent and Dean had to bang a fist on the table to drag him back. He raised an eyebrow in a "get the fuck on with it, bitch" motion and Sam nodded. "Right so, after last night's visit, I started thinking - what if it wasn't supernatural at all? Maybe it was alien?"

"That’s ridiculous!" Dean rolled his eyes.

"How can you say that Dean? After what we witnessed last night?"

"What exactly did we witness? I saw a normal looking guy who got into our super secret lockdown with a giant box and not tripping any alarms."

"Exactly! Our wards are meant for supernatural creatures, for ill intent. It was magic built to fight magic. But he's not human and he still got in. What if…" Pausing dramatically, Sam leaned forward earnestly. "What _if_ the wards couldn't target him because he was an alien just like he claimed?" Neither brother seemed to hear the angel as he affirmed that the Doctor was, indeed, an alien.

"I still don’t see what any of this has to do with…with anything?" Dean stared at Sam, lost. "Monster or alien or what have you, if they cause trouble, then they should be worried about the Winchesters coming after it.  And everything has its weak spots, I don't care _what_ it is. If it has tentacles or 4 eyes or green blood, there's nothing we can't kill if we needed to."

"But Dean, what if some of the so called monsters we've been fighting have been aliens all along?"

"I reiterate – does it matter where they come from? Either they're acting up or they aren't and we deal with them as necessary."

"But, but…aliens! Aliens are real! This could reshape reality as we know it."

"Yeah, whatever, space geek." Dean snorted. "I need more coffee." Ignoring Sam's spluttering protests, Dean went back into the kitchen to brew a fresh pot, Castiel trailing along behind him. It wasn't that the angel _needed_ to eat or drink, but that there were certain things that he really enjoyed, and coffee was one of them. Somehow, over the course of time, he had developed a taste for it. He'd somehow been able to look past the molecules of the drink and enjoy it for what it was. And of course, there was always the enjoyment he got from partaking in something with the man he loved, such as his – now their – morning rituals.

Quietly moving around each other in the small room, they worked together comfortably and in synch. They'd never really needed words when they were together. Which was good since Castiel was too blunt for most humans, but could never really seem to get what he meant out the way he needed it to when he tried to talk about feelings. Feelings he'd never really understood before. That he'd never even felt before either, though after what Naomi had said to him, he'd often wondered if that was actually true or not. He could have felt them before, he supposed, and simply not remembered because of her tendency towards brainwashing. And Dean, well, Dean was Dean. He could label just about anything as a chick flick moment and run away because putting words to his feelings were scary.

But somehow, the two of them worked. And neither of them could be happier.

Sam was still glaring at them when the couple returned with fresh cups of coffee. For themselves only. Because it was Sam and if there was one thing Dean was good at, it was heckling his brother. They sat and Sam continued to glare. They drank their coffees and Sam continued to glare. The silence thickened. Sam glared some more.

"Dude, if it's not Spock, I really couldn't care less if the thing I'm facing off is an alien or a monster. If it dies just as dead then I'm happy. In fact, it's probably _easier_ to kill an alien than a monster! Then we don't have to look up some exotic spell component to use under the half moon on the first Tuesday of the month to turn an extinct plant into the _one_ weapon that can kill a washed up god." Dean finally blurted, Sams glares finally getting to him. They weren't as effective as the puppy dog eyes ™ that his little brother had been perfecting since they were kids, but it was right up there. If only Sam had leveled one of his many bitch faces at him instead of a straight up glare, he could have resisted.

"Fine. Whatever. You're missing out on the knowledge of a lifetime Dean."

"You can lecture me about it when it actually makes a difference." Dean drained his coffee and plunked the empty mug back down on the table. "Anyway, I need to stretch my legs. Gonna take Baby out for a ride today. Maybe pick up a few things in town on our way back. Coming?"

"Nah, I'm still cross referencing some of the stranger, unsolved incidents of the last decade. I'm going to ask the Doctor about them when he comes back."

"Riiiiight. Okay then, you're missing out. Cas, you're coming right?"

"Of course, Dean."  Dean grinned and jumped up, clapping a hand on Cas's shoulder before scooping up the empty mugs.

"Great. Let me just clean this up then, we'll leave in an hour." Dean left the room to take care of the few dishes there were. He hated letting the place get messy and was always after Sam to clean up after himself. Cas never made much of a mess to clean up after, so that was a plus. After Dean had disappeared into the kitchen, Sam turned to Cas.

"So what do you think of all this?"

"I don't know what you want me to say?"

"Aliens? I mean, come on! We just got confirmation that little green men are real! Isn't that exciting?"

"Um. No."

"But why not?" Sam asked incredulously. He couldn't believe he was surrounded by people who just didn't care. Not for the first time, he wished Charlie was here. She'd have been excited. Maybe _too_ excited actually. But still, Sam wouldn't have felt like he was banging his head on a wall. Like usual.

"You presume that I was unaware of the existence of aliens to begin with. I was not unaware."

"What? And you never shared that with us? Cas! How could you do that to me, man?"

"It was irrelevant. My apologies. I had no idea it would matter so much to you."

"You guys suck." Sam muttered, turning away from Cas while picking up his pen and sticking his nose back into one of the many books on the table. Castiel shrugged and wandered off to get ready for a mini road trip with Dean.


	3. Gravestones and Statues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean and Cas's little road trip has them cruising by Stull Cemetery and apparently the TARDIS. What was the Doctor doing at Stull?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> longest chapter yet. think it comes in about 6 - 7 pages.  
> While it wasn't hard to find the right SPOT to end it, I did have difficulty choosing the right WORDS to end this chapter. Really weird....had fun with the watercolor though.
> 
> And if people do not believe my failures at google fu, let it be known that I spent several HOURS looking for pictures of the gate. I found 2, one completely unusable. Within 5 minutes, my husband found the same 2, plus one more which was the clincher. I was about to shove my kid off netflix and watch Swan Song again so I could look at the gate to the cemetery. (She would have understood...) but thankfully this proved unnecessary.
> 
> *EDIT*  
> I made a grievous LOCATION mistake and somehow thought Lebanon and Lawrence were the same place. I have adjusted the text to reflect that, No. No they are not.

 

  


Dean never felt more at home then when he was riding in the Impala. Especially with a loved one by his side. In the past, that had always been his brother, of course. But his definition of home had expanded to include one very endearing and sometimes completely clueless angel. It also felt very good to realize that Cas loved to spend time with him as much as Dean did with Cas. This was often driven home by the fact that while his wings were in working order again, he still sat beside Dean in Baby rather than offering to meet him at their destination. Cas had finally learned that sometimes it wasn't the destination that was important to Dean, and Dean couldn't be happier to have him by his side.

It was probably a little strange that Dean said he needed to stretch his legs, just to get into Baby and drive out for 3 hours, but he hadn't been lying. There was something in Lawrence he'd wanted to check out. Cas had found it weeks ago and they finally had a moment of space to go. He hadn't been back to Lawrence in ages, and he had a full day planned around it. A couple of special stops. Even though it wasn't home anymore, it still hurt to think what his life could have been if Azazel hadn't messed with them.

He watched the scenery go by in a relaxed blur with Cas by his side. They often took back roads to places, less chance of being pulled over even if he was speeding. But the scenic route didn't bother Dean  _or_ Sam after all the time they'd spent in the Impala. It was the closest thing they'd ever had to a home for most of their lives, though they'd often thought of Bobby's as a second home.  It'd only been a couple of years, but the bunker was starting to feel that way as well.

Dean couldn't believe it sometimes. Him and Sam. Putting down roots. Now Cas too. How was such a thing even possible? 'Course, the wards protected against the supernatural only. It hadn't prevented the break in from the Steins back when…things were quite dark for Dean. He flinched away from those memories. Sam had fixed that though. He'd upgraded their non supernatural security pretty vigorously with some more modern technology. Not that that had prevented an  _alien_  from getting in though. He frowned and he felt Cas's hand on his thigh, grabbing his attention.

"What's wrong, Dean?"

"Nothin' Angel. Just thinking of some things." He looked over at his husband briefly, long enough to see the concern that had  _not_  been erased from his face. He sighed. "Really, I wasn't really thinking about anything in particular and then I remembered…when I had the mark." He paused and the fingers tightened on his leg, grounding him in the moment. Deans own hands tightened on the steering wheel. "Which had me thinking about the security measures at the bunker. We've got stuff to ward off monsters, and humans, but we're still getting intruders. Now, I guess that, the ones that have gotten in have mostly been okay…but…it worries me that we need yet another layer of protection and I don't know how to protect against aliens." He huffed a breath. "Sonuva – don't tell Sam that."

"Don't tell Sam what?"

"Exactly." Dean grinned at his little joke, even knowing Cas wasn't likely to get it. "I just…don't feel like seeing his smug ass fa – What the hell?" Dean's head whipped backward and he slammed on the brakes, not worried about stopping short since the road they were on was deserted.

Well, apparently not as deserted as he thought. He put the Impala in reverse and backed up slowly until he came to a stop beside the entrance to – not only one of Lawrence graveyards, but _the_ graveyard - Stull Cemetery, where a dull blue box with a good amount of scarring on it was standing. "Guess we know where he went after he left our place. Should we check on him? See what he's doing out here? I mean, why would an alien be interested in our graveyards? In this one specifically? Doesn't that seem a little suspicious to you?" Dean turned to Castiel, catching him with a small frown on his face, head tilted and distant eyes. "Yo Cas, you home?"

"There's…something wrong Dean. Something very wrong." In the blink of an eye, Castiel was standing at the gates of the cemetery. Quickly, Dean finished putting the car into park and shutting it off, exiting the Impala in the human fashion, all the while grumbling about teleporting angels. At least he hadn't gone far. In a few, quick steps, Dean stood beside his husband. Cas's head was yet again cocked to the side as he stared out at the graveyard. Dean looked around alertly but could sense nothing.

Eventually, with a frown, Castiel turned back toward the blue police box beside the gate. He reached forward, pushing the door of the police box open and striding inside. Dean made sure to follow quickly but found himself coming to a dead halt just inside the door in shock.

"What the fuck?!"

"Oy! Who are you people? And what are you doing in _my_ TARDIS?"

"Doctor, may I enquire as to what drew you here?" Castiel didn't seem surprised in anyway, not slowing at all as he made his way to the center of the odd room. A man with close cropped hair, big ears and a leather jacket stood there beside a massive, glowing column. Dean's eyes were wide as he spun in place trying to take in everything.

"Seriously. What. The. Fuck." Dean reiterated.

"Well that's rich. You invade my TARDIS and think you can act all surprised when it's not what you expected?"

"Yeah well, this stupid thing broke into a highly warded bunker just last night so…wait, who the hell are you?"

"Dean, that’s the Doctor."

"Like hell it is! That’s not what he looked like last night! Shit, Cas, don't tell me he's a _shapeshifter_? 'Cause if he is, then I want to know _exactly_ how he got past the wards last night!" The strangers face morphed from anger and affront into something more akin to understanding as he listened to the husbands arguing.

"Do I know you?" The stranger kept glancing between Dean and Castiel before finally narrowing his eyes at the angel. "You aren't human, are you?"

"You are correct. But then as we established last night, neither are you."

"And how do you know who I am? Have we met before?"

"According to you, we have met many times. Though from our perspective, this is only our second meeting, and your face _is_ different from what we saw before. I presume that’s because you are not of this Earth. I am Castiel, this is Dean." Castiel paused. "Now can I ask what drew you here?"

"Oh. Hmm…" the Doctor swung around and grabbed at the  console, angling a screen towards the angel. Dean eventually unglued his feet from the floor and came to stand beside close beside Cas, shoulders brushing. The man flipped a few toggles and looked up again. "What do you see?"

Dean looked. He squinted. He even tried Cas's trick and tilted his head to the side. He blinked. Then blinked some more. Crap. Where was Sam when you needed him? Castiel silently regarded the screen before him.

"I see. Is it dangerous?"

"I don't actually know. Isn't that fantastic?" Dean bore witness to the biggest grin he'd ever seen, he would bet his life on it.

"Wait, slow it down there fellas. Someone mind explaining to _me_ what is going on?"

"My apologies Dean. The Doctor is here because his TARDIS was tracking an energy pattern. It appears that an alien from an ancient race has appeared here in Stull Cemetery. I believe I sensed it when we were outside."

"That’s right, and according to the TARDIS, this alien was very likely attracted to the residual power I can sense here. Something very significant must have happened here. There are few places like this in the universe. Strangely, more than a few of them are on this planet."

Dean snorted. "Of frickin' course. Stull of all places. Christ Cas, why is always Stull?"

"Always?" Castiel's voice was confused as he looked at Dean.

"Well, I mean, it's Lawrence, Cas.  Stull. Even before everything that happened here, it's been rumored to be a hell gate or some shit. Sam and I were born in this town and here is where it all started. And of course, who can forget the Apocalypse that never was? Face off between archangels? You died here Cas! Fucking shit!" Dean ran a shaky hand through his hair. Despite the fact that it happened years ago, despite the fact that Cas had died more than once and always came back to him, just the thought of the angel being gone was enough to send a shiver of fear and pain through him.

"Dean…" Cas turned to face him fully and laid his hand on Dean's shoulder. The one that had once held his mark. Dean had to admit, he kinda missed it.

"I knew it!" Startled, the two were recalled to reality, breaking their tender moment. Dean cleared his throat but didn't step away from his husband. He had no cause to feel ashamed of Cas, he was long over being scared of what he felt.

"Knew what?" he asked.

"Something of significance _did_ happen here. Confirmation that the Celestials are real though, I admit, I didn't expect that. But that _must_ be why the Weeping Angel is here." The man paused then grinned again, chuckling slightly. "A little ironic though, that the Weeping Angel is drawn to the power of an Angelic being."

"What's a Weeping Angel?"

"Well, they're old, very old. Like, ridiculously old, and most of the universe isn't aware they were even a legend once upon a time, much less real. So the details, I have to admit, even I'm a bit iffy on those."

"So…it's been attracted to the power here for what reason? Is there ill intent?"

"Who knows! Let's find out." The Doctor grinned, grabbed some things from the console and started stuffing his pockets. He whirled about and headed for the door, cocking his head back to give them a look. "You coming or what?"

"Why do I get the feeling that this won't end well?" Dean muttered as he followed the other two out of the impossibly large room. Another glance around -  was he seeing more _doors_ leading away further in? How big _was_ this place anyway? And how?? Scientific mumbo jumbo. God, Sam was going to be so jealous he missed this. Dean would have to remember to torment him about it – and Dean shook his head and stepped through the door.

He found that both Castiel and the Doctor had already gone through the gate, and without wasting any more time, Dean followed suit. Now most people might be creeped out by Stull Cemetery. After all, before everything else had happened, it had already had its fair share of local legends and folklore about being a gate to Hell. But Dean had been in too many cemeteries to be creeped out by any of them. It was more like he wasn't happy to be reliving the bad memories he had of this place. Neither Cas nor the Doctor seemed affected at all. Castiel had his usual stoic expression on his face as he moved about, staying as close to both Dean and the Doctor as he could. The Doctor couldn't have looked more excited if had tried, Dean was relatively certain.

Yet the further into the cemetery they walked, further even then they had gone when they'd put two archangels into the pit, the more uneasy Dean started to feel. The Doctor seemed unaffected, but Dean could see the telltale traces of concern on Cas's face, so clear to him, but likely invisible to anyone else.

"Doctor. Do you know what these Weeping Angels look like?"

"It was said they had the appearance of statues and never moved if they were being looked at. It has to do with Quantum Locking."

"Ah, I understand." Castiel nodded.

"I don't."

"It's hard to explain. And would take longer than we have the time for now. It would likely bore you, but if you want to talk about it later…?" Dean appreciated that Cas wasn't implying he was too dumb to understand but he knew he wouldn't be asking for an explanation a second time. It would likely bore him to death. This was more Sams' kinda thing. The big nerd could ask if he really wanted to know.

In the midst of his thoughts, Dean froze. He'd been scanning his gaze around the graveyard, not even sure what he was looking for, when he came to the conclusion that not only was something not right, it was coming right at them. Like a stop motion picture.

"Cas. Cas!" he hoarsely whispered, refusing to take his eyes off the statue he could swear was closer than it had been. And if he was right, the same statue had actually been following them since the gate. Like it was observing them first, taking their measure before deciding what it wanted to do. And he could see now, if he hadn't been imagining things, why they called it a Weeping Angel. He'd certainly thought it was a strange name for a race.

A touch on his arm and he flinched and almost looked away from the statue that was mere feet away from them,  standing beside a small mausoleum. It almost looked like it belonged there. It was weathered and battered and placed just so. He might have believed it too, if he didn't see the faint scuffing that ended just behind it. Dean pointed at the statue and Ca's gaze followed.

 Refusing to look away from this entity, Dean could still tell when Cas's eyes landed on it. His fingers tightened on Dean's arms, pulling him back and behind the angel as he stiffened. Dean made sure to keep his eyes on it as the Doctor came back to stand beside him. A handheld device was whirring away in his hands as he grinned.

"Fascinating."

"Don't go quoting Spock to me! Cas, you don't look happy, talk to me."

"Doctor, this being is unbelievably dangerous. I cannot yet read his intentions but there is a great deal of malevolence and ill will being leveled our way."

"Fuck this." Dean grunted. "If he…she…it… _whatever_ is dangerous and giving us the "I will kill you" vibe, I ain't waiting around for it to kill me first." He pulled out his gun and leveled it on the statue, squeezing the trigger. The loud report of the gun echoed in the silence of the cemetery but the statue remained unaffected.  Dean cursed. Cas narrowed his eyes at the statue, not looking away.

"Do you always shoot first and ask questions later?" The Doctor had a disgusted look on his face.

"Not always. I haven't shot _you._ " While Dean and the Doctor bickered, Cas strode forward, reaching out his hand. A bright white light shone and Dean automatically stopped talking and ducked his head sideways, trying to look and cover his eyes with his arm at the same time so that he wasn't seeing the light directly. It was pretty unsuccessful. The Doctor looked right at the light, squinting only slightly. When the light died out the statue was gone. Castiel let his arm fall to his side as he turned back to the other two.

"What did you do?"

"Cas just smote the fucker."

"Its intentions were nothing good. It would have wreaked a lot of havoc on this world and many others. This one was weak and posed no threat yet, but if it had been able to power up…and we had not been here." Cas trailed off, not seeing a need to finish the sentence.

"Dude, how did you look right at Cas when he was smiting? Like, that’s fuckin' dangerous."

"I've looked into the the Untempered Schism you ape, I'm a Time Lord, I think I can handle a little bit of focused energy. What I want to know is what your friend here is! I've never met any like him!" A device in the Doctors hands was whirring and humming and blinking as the Doctor waved it about in front of the angel, occasionally checking it as if it was giving him some sort of readings. He was muttering as he glanced up at Cas, back down at the thin rod in his hand and back up again. "What does it mean by star stuff? That’s hardly scientific…"

"Yeah, I've got no idea what that even means. And Cas here isn't an alien, he's an angel. Not one of _those_ wannabes either." Dean gestured vaguely towards where the statue had been. Castiel  had returned to his side looking slightly alarmed at the arguing pair.

"Wait, an angel? A _real_ angel? This guy is a Celestial?" The Doctor was suddenly looking impressed as well as fascinated, pointing at Castiel with a raised eyebrow or two.

"That’s the second time you've said that. I think you mean that differently than we do here."

"I do indeed. Not bad for an ape." Dean bristled at the continued use of the term. He didn't exactly have good memories of it. Even some of the angels he maybe sorta liked had called him that. Looking down on him and all other humans, believing themselves to be superior in all ways. And sure they may have had powers, but that didn't make them superior.

"The Time Lords of old had legends of the Celestial beings. They were aliens so ancient and so advanced that they were revered as gods in many cultures and there were many things in my own culture that was inspired by the legends we had of them. Those legends are known to very few these days. I don't know any current Time Lord who has ever met one. Might I say, this is a great honor."

Needless to say, Castiel was looking decidedly uncomfortable. No doubt remembering his own attempt at actually _being_ God.

"While many cultures may have revered us as gods, I must stress that angels are far from it. Our heavenly father created the universe from Darkness, and then angels and humans, and it is he and he alone that is God." Oh how literal _that_ had turned out to be, Dean thought wryly. Months later and Dean still couldn't believe that Amara had been God's freaking sister. "And we are not aliens." The doctor raised an eyebrow at that.

"I have just one question. If your father is God and he created the universe, then why does he seem so pre-occupied with one _tiny_ little planet in one _tiny_ little solar system?" He countered.

"Why are you?"

"Fair point." The Doctor acknowledged with a tilt to his head. "Well, this has been a fascinating conversation, but I have places to be." He clapped his hands together and started moving back through the graveyard and towards his TARDIS. "I was thinking of visiting the Titanic if I could get the TARDIS to cooperate."

Dean and Castiel had started to follow him and at his words Dean froze.

"Oh no. No, no, no, no, no. Do _not_ even _think_ about un-sinking the Titanic. 'Cause we all _know_ how that ends, don't we Cas?"

"My apologies Dean." Cas looked sheepish and ashamed.

"No, angel, that’s water under the bridge. I just don't want anyone else mucking with that again."

" _What_ did you _do_?" The Doctor had whirled about and was nearly nose to nose with the hunter.

"I, the hairless _ape_ , did nothing. That one was not my fault." Dean gritted his teeth and growled at the Doctor. The big eared man reluctantly backed off but his eyes, still narrowed, flicked over to look at an embarrassed angel.

"As I have said, we are not gods. And, we have all made mistakes. It's a long, and not so pleasant story. I'd…rather not talk about it." Dean rubbed his hand between his husbands' shoulder blades reassuringly and Castiel looked at him fondly.

"Alright, fine. I won't. And I can take a hint. You lovebirds go do what lovebirds do." They'd made it back to the entrance and the Doctor ducked inside the TARDIS turned and leaned back out around the door. "Ta! And behave you two!" He pointed a finger sternly at them before dropping back inside and shoving the door shut. Almost instantly, Dean and Castiel got to witness what they'd missed the night before. The box started fading in and out, the sickening wheezing whining noise echoing through the graveyard.

In the silence afterwards, the two of them stared at the spot it had resided in. There wasn't even a trace of anything to betray that it had been there. Dean blinked and looked over at Cas.

"Flashy. I like your vanishing act better though. But at least he'll never sneak up on us."

"So you won't be making him wear a bell?"

"Like I ever forced you to wear one."

"You did try."

"Shut up." Dean tried to sound gruff but couldn't help the grin in his face as they climbed back into the Impala. Cas just beamed back smugly as Dean rolled his eyes.  After a not so quick kiss, they started back towards Lawrence to finish what they'd started. They'd tell Sam about all this later. It wasn't as if there was anything pressing about it.


	4. The Scarves We Leave Behind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam and Dean compare notes about the Doctor while Cas investigates a multi colored scarf...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, a friend on tumblr saw part of this and requested that the Winchesters have a "Tall Off" with the Doctors. You can see that I tried to do that here, but then I realized it didn't really work? I was kinda forcing it, so i backed it off a notch and I think that instead of being a one off gag, it'll be something i try to subtly work into following chapters.
> 
> Also, the end of this chapter? I really don't know what I was thinking...but it seemed right? what do you think?

Upon their return, Dean and Cas found Sam still in the map room with _even more_ books and papers scattered everywhere. They carried their bags past the table and down into the kitchen, Dean hollering as he went.

"Sam, can't you at least do that crap in the library? That's what it's there for!"

"What? Oh, I was saving that for case research so I wouldn't have to clean up this project."

"Why? It's not like that project is actually important at all." Dean popped his head out of the door for just long enough to catch another bitch face. And a crumpled up scrap of paper to the face. "Gee, Sammy, real mature."

A few moments later and Cas and Dean had rejoined Sam. Dean held out a beer for his brother while holding his own. Cas had been content to stay empty handed. Glancing around, Dean noted just how much messier the place was then this morning. And was that…?

  
  


"Hey nerd, where the hell did you get a 10 foot scarf?"  Dean set his beer down and reached for the fabric draped all over the chair next to Sam. And the table, and the floor, as well as the chair next to that. Cas tilted his head in curiosity and grabbed an end. Between the two of them, they unwound and stretched out the multi colored strip of cloth to see exactly how long it was. Dean whistled. It was longer than the table even. "Since when do you even wear scarves, man?"

"Oh, that's not mine. It's the Doctors. He came back while you were out." Sam responded negligently, barely looking up. "Although, he did look different."

"Yeah, we saw him out at Stull too. Big ears, short hair, leather jacket. Real snarky attitude"  Sam looked up sharply at that.

"What? No, he had big curly hair, that scarf and a big overcoat and a vest. Overly jovial."

"Man, this is getting confusing. Are we sure this is even the same guy?"

"Well, he had the TARDIS with him…and he called himself the Doctor. The wards let him in so…I mean." Sam started to look a little uncertain. "And I guess…well, he talked to me in a very familiar tone but, now that I think about it, he didn't actually seem as familiar with me as he had last night. Could he be a shapeshifter? "

"See! I asked the same damn thing! Only Cas assured me it was the same guy and he was an alien, not a shapeshifter. Well...to tell the truth, no one actually said he _wasn't_ a shapeshifter." Dean paused and turned to look at his husband with a slightly accusing look on his face. "What's up with that anyway? You said he was an alien, so he's _not_ a shapeshifter, right?" If it hadn't been for Eve, Dean would have been perfectly ready to believe that a shapeshifter _was_ an alien and not a monster. Maybe a monster alien?

"You are correct. But he told you himself, he is a Time Lord."

"What, like that's a fuckin' species or something?"

"No, it is a sect within a larger species. He is from the planet Gallifrey, and there are a chosen few among them who can become Time Lords. Time Lords have something called regenerations. It's limited in number and I don't know how many the Doctor has had or which ones we have seen. I suppose we can ask him next time?" Cas tilted his head.

"And it's these regenerations that change his appearance?" A nod from Castiel was all he could get before Sam plunged in with more questions.

"Is it scientific in nature? Can all Gallifreyans do that or just Time Lords? I wonder if that’s something other people, other races could do?"

"Cas, how do you know all this? It's not exactly Earth history."

"My father is God, Dean. He created everything and I've been around for a very long time. When we were bored, we explored the Universe. This was, of course, before my garrison was assigned to the Earth. While I would never claim to know everything-" he heard a snort from one of the boys before him and decided to ignore it. "I know quite a bit about the Universe, but usually only the things I have personally witnessed."

The matter of fact way Cas put out this information made Dean pause. There were many times he wondered what the hell Cas was doing with them. With _him._ This was one of those times. He literally had the Universe open to him and he chose to stay here, on Earth, with Dean. God, he didn't feel worthy of Cas, but he knew he was loved by the obvious sacrifices the angel had made to be with him. There was no question in Deans' mind that he would make the same sacrifices if he needed to. He winced at the thought that he hadn't always done so in the past. One notable occasion stuck in his mind, something he never wanted to think about again. It was something he regretted till this day and he still couldn't figure out how Cas had forgiven him for it.

Winding the scarf around his arm like a coil of rope to distract himself from his increasingly depressing thoughts, he fiddled with it as it flopped about in a very uncooperative manner. With a smirk he decided to wrap up his husband in the scarf instead, a raised eyebrow was the only response he received. Cas was used to his antics by now. Sam just shook his head at his brother.

"Maybe we should catalog what we _do_ know about the Doctor. We've seen three faces so far.  But their personalities seem quite different. Now, the two _I've_ seen were about the same height – "

"Yeah, I was the same height as the guy from last night, and just a tad taller than the version I saw at Stull."

"Well, the one I met today was only a little shorter than me. So he was definitely taller than both of you." Sam said gleefully. Dean glowered. Someone else as tall as his brother? Dammit, that's just taller than was necessary. He never figured he'd have a complex about being short. He wasn't short! At least he was taller than Cas. Maybe not by much, but really, it was the perfect height. He shook his head and got himself back on track.

"Their height isn't necessary, Sam. I think it's more important to know which ones we've met."

"A physical description is necessary so we can recognize each one." Sam replied. He pulled out a different notebook. "I've already written down the descriptions of the two I've met." Flipping to a blank page he slid the book across the table. "Why don't you write down what you can for the one you met today?"

"Yeah, whatever." Dean grumped, grabbing a pen and setting to work. Sam turned to Castiel, letting his brother get to it.

"Now, we're meeting all different faces of this Doctor, which means somewhere along the way he won't know us, just as we didn't know him. It might be a good idea to try and form some sort of time line. The one in the blue suit last night seemed to know us all very well. Not so sure about scarf guy. How about yours?"

"The Doctor we met in Stull most certainly didn't know either of us at all. You weren't there, so I can't say for sure about you. Since we have already met different doctors without the others around, it's possible that earlier versions could know at least one of us and not the others."

"That’s…very true. That makes this even more difficult. So we know Stull Doctor and Scarf Doctor were both before Suit Doctor, but not which of those came before the other. One was super friendly and the other not so much?" Sam tried to confirm. Castiel nodded.

"It was as if he was reeling from a deep pain."

"And possibly lashing out? I don't think we know of anyone like that, do we?"

"I…Sam…" the angels' eyes widened as he stiffened at the remark and studiously avoided looking at his husband.

"You don't have to answer that Cas. It was a joke. A bad joke, but a joke none the less."

"Done!" Dean plunked the pen down on the notebook and shoved it back at his brother. The taller Winchester snagged it and did a quick read through, then wrote some new notes on the page.

"It's too bad we didn't think to snap any pictures…that could make this cataloging thing a bit easier. After all, we don't know how many of these Doctors there will be. It would certainly be nice if we could keep them straight or recognize new ones on sight."

"Yo, I hate to state the obvious, but couldn't you just, you know, run a search for the Doctor online? Surely he's been recorded somewhere along the way. That police box of his kinda sticks out like a sore thumb."

"Good idea, Dean. No idea why I didn't think of that already." Sam looked like he wanted to smack himself in the head for being so slow. Research was normally his thing. How'd he miss something so obvious?

"I can tell you why, Sammy. You _still_ haven't been to bed. Why don't you do that first? It's not like anything about this is at all imperative. I'll wake you for diner." Rolling his eyes at his older brother, Sam groaned an answer.

"I'm fine."

"No you're not. There's no reason to push yourself, go to bed bitch."

"Jerk."

"Sam, I think you should listen to Dean." The green eyed man stared smugly across the table when the angel took his side. Said angel was currently tangled in multicolored layers of an obscenely long scarf and was somewhat distracted from the conversation trying to unwind it from around himself. Dean knew he could mojo himself out of it without even a thought, but Cas was like Sam, he enjoyed puzzles as well. Dean watched his husband squint and tilt his head at the offending article of clothing and thought- great tactician or no - he might just lose this one.

Sam groaned and levered himself up from his seat, and with one last bitch face at Dean, he stumbled tiredly out of the room. Silence descended on them as Dean continued to watch his angel with the scarf. He finished his beer and noticed Sam's still full bottle next to the laptop. Not one to let alcohol go to waste, he quickly snagged it, then turned back to smirk at his husband. Castiel ignored him, and not even another moment later, he'd successfully untangled himself from the knots Dean had tied around him and he beamed triumphantly, catching Deans eyes.

"Have fun there, angel?" Dean leaned forward, setting the now empty beer bottle onto the table and gave him a soft kiss that was returned eagerly.  They continued kissing until Dean went to reach his hand towards Cas's stubbled jaw and realized he couldn't move. He jerked his head back and looked down.

Looks like it was Deans turn to be tied up in a 10 foot scarf. He looked back up at his husband and raised an eyebrow. Cas looked at him with an innocent and serene expression on his face. Dean didn't buy it for a second. Deans mouth quirked.

"Kinky."

"I don't know what you mean, Dean."

"Sure you don't, angel. You're not so innocent and naive about certain things as you'd like others to believe." Dean leaned in close to Cas, his mouth at his ear. "But we've been married how long now, Cas? I think we both know the truth…"

"If you can untie yourself, I'll be in our room." Cas stood up and walked away while the elder Winchester gaped in disbelief.

"Cas? Cas! Hey, Cas! Come back here!" Dean growled and jerked at the scarf. How the hell had he done it? And without Dean noticing it either? Deans eyes narrowed as he struggled. Oh, as soon as he was free – and it shouldn't take too long, he'd escaped tighter, harsher bonds than this before - the blue eyed angel was going to pay for this. He grinned widely at the empty room with the thoughts of his revenge. He was so preoccupied with getting free that he never noticed the odd, wheezing sound that was once again fading in an out further away in the bunker.


	5. Burning Down the Bunker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another day, another surprise visit - which Doctor will they find at the other end of the TARDIS _this_ time?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This seems to be going along well. *Crosses fingers that she didn't just jinx herself*

Hours later, Dean woke up from his impromptu nap, his husband sleeping beside him. Just like eating, Cas didn't  _need_  to sleep, but he enjoyed it, especially with Dean there to share it with. Dean certainly wasn't going to argue it.

He smiled contentedly, threading his fingers through Cas's perpetually messy hair as he lay in the crook of Deans' arm. Why had he woken? His smile changed to a frown as he tried to get his lethargic brain to wake enough to ponder the question. He breathed in deep to catch Cas's scent, god he  _loved_  the way he smelled, and coughed instead.

Dean shot up in the bed, knocking Castiel off of him and slightly rousing him. The dark haired angel grumbled and rolled to his other side, clutching Dean's pillow, the single sheet falling away. While Dean would normally have  _greatly_  enjoyed the sight of the angels' naked flesh, he had other worries now. Stopping only long enough to hop precariously into a pair of boxers, he threw open his door and started yelling.

"Dammit Sam! I told you  _I'd_  cook dinner! What the hell are you burning?" He skidded to a stop as his brother exited his own room.

"Dean?" he rubbed at his eyes groggily. "Why ya yellin'? he slurred.

"Shit, if that's not you burning crap in my kitchen, then who…? Oh  _hell_  no!"

"Maybe Cas? Wow, the smoke's getting pretty thick isn't it?" Sam was more alert now, and he turned to follow after his brother as he shot down the hallway once more. Dean risked a glance over his shoulder to growl at his brother.

"It sure as  _hell_  isn't Cas."

"Which means that –"

"Exactly."

  
  


The brothers barreled into the kitchen, waving away the smoke in front of their faces, eyes tearing up as they searched for the source. Sam snagged the fire extinguisher they kept by the entrance. Finally, their eyes fell on a tall – but still shorter than Dean! His inner child danced with glee as he gloated - gangly man with short but floppy hair. He grinned at the boys as Dean caught sight of something blue out of the corner of his eyes and groaned at the confirmation of his thoughts.

"Hullo! Hullo! Good morning Sam! And good morning to you as well grumpy pants!"

"It's  _not_  morning, for chrissakes."

"Eh, it's always morning somewhere. A whole _lot_ of some where's in fact."

Dean pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes as Sam moved forward to use the extinguisher. "Dude…what the hell? Why are you desecrating my kitchen?!"

"Desecrating? I'd call that a little harsh, I was just making some food for my friends." The newest version of the Doctor looked offended.

"I wouldn't call  _this_  food." Sam interjected. The Doctors face was a mixture of dejected and even more offended, if that was possible.

"Hello again Doctor." Dean turned at the sound of the rumbling voice behind him to find his husband in boxers and a borrowed AC/DC tee. He'd seemed bound and determined to continue sleeping when Dean got up just a few moments ago, but he must have rethought the wisdom of that idea after all that yelling.

"Yeah, I figured it was him. But how did you know? How do you always know it's the same guy?" Castiel frowned at Dean as he leaned in for a kiss.

"A soul is a soul, Dean. It doesn't alter even if someone has had a –" Cas paused to find the right words and lifted his hands to make finger quotes. "Face Lift." Sam snorted. Dean snapped and pointed at the door.

"Just…That's...All of you – out of  _my_  kitchen!" Cas's face fell and Dean relented, grabbing his arm. "Except for you. You can stay angel."

Sam led yet another face of the doctor back out to the map room while the husbands attempted to both clean up the mess that had been made and to salvage the meal. Turned out, the second was impossible and Dean tossed it all out to start over. He could hear snippets of Sam's conversation with the alien as Cas and he worked.

"Dean's a little protective of his kitchen, isn't he?"

"It's…kinda his thing. It makes him happy, so we just leave him alone." Dean heard the scraping sound of chairs pulling out to accommodate the two of them, and then a triumphant noise that was definitely not Sam.

"Well, I was wondering where that got off too. The me that liked this scarf had to scour the TARDIS wardrobe for another one like it. Didn't feel right, felt… _naked_.  Me, I don't wear scarves anymore. Bow ties now, _that's_ my style. Bow ties are cool." Dean snorted. Right, cool, whatever floats the guys' boat, he supposed. Sam seemed to be of the same opinion because he quickly changed the subject.

"So Doctor, can you tell us more about you? We've counted four different…well…you's so far and we're trying to keep them straight. For one, how many of you  _are_  there? And which comes first – "

"Hold on there, Sam! Slow down. Oh, what's this?" A brief pause where Dean thought he might be able to hear the flutter of pages. "I see, you're taking a leaf out of Professor Songs book! Very ambitious Sam."

"Well, it’s a way to help us keep track of you. Who's Professor Song?"

"Let's see what you have. Right, well, the first guy you met? That was my previous regeneration, and the one out at Stull was the one just before that.  The one with the scarf…woooo, that was a loooong time ago. That was my third regen, my fourth face."

"How many faces have you  _had?"_

"Hmm…eleven. Well, would have been twelve but, my last…well,  _me_ , found a loophole."

"A loophole?"

"Yeah, he didn't want to change, so he didn't. Sparked off one of the weirdest chain of events ever, but it saved a lot of lives. I mean, what were the chances?" Dean poked his head out to see Sam with a very confused look on his face as the newest Doctor spun around in the chair. He raised an eyebrow unseen by anyone else and thought he was glad he wasn't Sam, because that would make him dizzy if he had to keep watching that. He ducked back into the kitchen to check on the progress of the food and wonder why the Doctor was visiting them. Again. Four times in two days. It seemed a little strange and a little excessive. Sam must have been thinking the same thing because his line of inquiry changed some.

"So Doctor, to what do we owe the multitude of visits these past two days?"

"How do you mean?"

"Well…we've met so many different versions of you all of a sudden."

"It wasn't all that sudden for me. I'm a Time Traveler after all. My visits with you Men of Letters are actually quite far between, most of the time." The Doctor leaned forward as Sam stared. "Are you saying that they haven't been for you?"

"Not really. It makes us think there is something going on."

"As far as I know, not a thing. But…" the Doctors voice trailed off and he tapped his face as he thought. While he was remaining relatively still, Sam took the opportunity to snap a shot of him from his phone, taking care to be as unobtrusive as possible. He was uncertain if the Doctor would object, but he thought it best to have some idea of who was who. One down, and apparently, ten to go. Sam jumped as the tall, gangly man leapt out of his chair and bounded down the steps.

He whirled through the kitchen, narrowly avoiding the husbands as they cooked. Well, Dean cooked, Cas mostly kept him company. Dean didn't really trust Castiel in the kitchen any more than Sam. Or the Doctor. Or, well, anybody really. No, well, maybe Jody. He could make an exception for her.  She was a good cook. She'd know her way around. His mouth salivated at the memory of the last dinner she'd cooked for them. He should invite her and the girls over for a visit someday. It'd been a while since they had all gotten together.

Dean and Cas paused as they watched the Doctor dart into the blue box in the corner, leaving the door wide open.  _Must not be leaving then_ , he thought.  Sam appeared in the doorway, a perplexed look on his face. Dean snorted. When wasn't the moose perplexed these days?

"What bee got in his bonnet?" Dean nodded his head at the police box. He found himself regarded by blue eyes.His brother shrugged.

"Dunno."

"Bees?" Dean turned to look at Castiel whose eyes had widened in hope and confusion.

"No, angel. I'm sorry. Metaphorical bees."

"Oh." The disappointed look on his face made Dean want to go out and invest in a bee hive for Cas, even though he was certain that would be a bad idea. Or, instead, bee paraphernalia. Maybe a T shirt or something that, well, they wouldn't need to worry about if they had to leave the bunker for any reason. Oh god, he was such a sap.

There was a bunch of banging noises coming from inside the impossible box and Sam took a step forwards. He looked over at Dean. "Bigger on the inside you said?" He looked back at the box. Dean shooed him on.

"Go on, you big nerd. We all know you want to look inside." Sam had a light in his eyes and Dean _almost_  felt sorry for the Doctor when his brother made his way inside.

" _Ho-ly shit!"_  Dean grinned at his brothers' shout. Guess the kid should believe his big brother more often. The grin turned into a smirk. The smirk abruptly disappeared when the door slammed shut and the wheezing whine started to fade in and out of hearing, in tandem with the box itself fading in and out of sight. Dean and his angel watched in alarm, frozen in place as the police box with the alien and his brother inside completely vanished.

"SONUVABITCH!"


	6. Back in Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What really happened at Elysium Fields Hotel? It's a fixed point in time right? So what would happen if Gabriel never showed up? These are questions Sam finds himself pondering as he realizes just where the TARDIS took them. And one final, concerning question came to mind, "How did Gabriel even know to be there?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah...I just re watched the episode Hammer of the Gods to double check a few facts and refresh my memory and as I watch Gabriel's expressions and listen to what he actually says (to pretty much EVERYONE), the more i'm positive it could have happened just like this.
> 
> Okay, well, i'm convinced he didn't actually die anyway. Little more on that in a later chapter I'm sure.

"You need to calm down, Dean."

"Calm down? Fuck that shit! An alien just abducted my brother! He might not even be on the godforsaken  _planet!"_ Dean was  _not_  hyperventilating, thank you very much.  He gripped his hair in both hands and spun in place as if searching for something. "Fuck, fuck, fuck! He doesn't have  _anything_  with him, Cas! No weapons, no phone…he's in his boxers for god's sake! He could be facing who knows  _what_  in his freakin' boxers!" A hand landed on his shoulder to stop him in his place then pulled him in to wrap around him. A rumble vibrated through his body as his husband spoke.

"We'll find him, Dean.  I'm sure he's all right."

"How, Cas? I can't call him…and you can't look for him because of the angel warding  _you_  put there…how??"

"I…don't know yet. But we will. Why don't we get changed. We'll feel more up to undertaking the task of figuring out the  _how_  if we're ready to go at a moment's notice." Dean nodded into the dark haired angels' neck.  He blew out a shaky breath.

"Okay, okay, yeah, I can do that."

No sooner had they finished putting on their clothes then both of them perked up, Castiel a split second sooner than Dean, as they heard the now familiar wheezing noise echoing through the bunker. Dean wasted not a second and booked it out of the room. Cas sighed at his husbands impatience and got to the kitchen before him via "Angel Express" as Dean liked to call it these days.

There before him was the TARDIS, and as Dean came scrambling down into the kitchen, the door flew open and a Sam that was wearing decidedly different clothing than earlier came out of the blue box. Castiel could hear the huff of relief behind him as Dean shoved past and grabbed at his brother.

"You okay Sam? What the hell happened? Why'd that ass kidnap you?"

"I'm okay Dean, promise. And it wasn't the Doctor. It was her." Sam turned to pat the blue box next to him, as the Doctor poked his head out the door.

"Is it safe for me to come out? I swear it wasn't my fault! I had no idea she was going to do that. But hey, that’s half the fun, never knowing." He started out a little hesitant but ended with a beaming grin. Dean ran a hand through his already messy hair.

"Okay…" he narrowed his eyes at the Doctor and his box, and then looked back at Sam. "So what happened?"

"Oh, this is gonna be a long story so uh…let's go sit down somewhere. And I'm starving, is there anything to eat?"

"Yeah man, I'd just finished cooking our dinners when you disappeared. It might still be warm."

"How long was I gone?"

"About 10 minutes, I guess?" Dean looked at Cas and received a nod in return.

"Shit! That's all? We were gone…what, almost a day? No, more like…10 hours, I think. So almost half a day. I don't know, a lot of shit happened while we were out so, I kinda lost track. I'll tell you when we're eating."

"You staying?" Dean looked over at the Doctor suspiciously. He shook his head.

"Nope, I have some folks I want to check in on. But I'm sure we'll meet up again soon." He ducked back inside and the door swung shut. Everyone took a few steps back, wary of being too close when it did its disappearing trick.

"That's certainly a little disconcerting." Sam said.  He turned back to his brother. "Food now?"

"Yeah, yeah, come on. You go sit at the table, I'll bring everything out. Come help me Cas?" A nod and the two set to work quickly, dishing up heaping plates of food and setting them out, then grabbing a few beers, before sitting down at the table beside Sam.

"Okay man, spill."

"Okay so…."

******************************************************************

Sam hadn't even had a chance to acknowledge how much bigger on the inside the Doctors weird space vehicle was before he heard the door swing shut behind him and the glowing column in the center of the room started to move up and down, accompanied by that wheezing whine he was starting to become used to hearing.

"No no no, I wasn't trying to go anywhere, I just wanted some information!" he heard the Doctor cry out from the other side of the column. Sam then got to witness the gangly man dashing about the console, hitting switches and pulling levers. Sometimes using a foot instead of a hand. He even hip checked the damn thing, causing Sam to snort at the ridiculousness of it all.

"Doctor, what's going on?"

"I'm not sure. Remember I told you she's got a mind of her own?"

"Ah, yeah, yeah I think so."

"There you have it." The wheezing died down and the column slowed to a stop. "Ah, here we are. Let's go find out where here is!" He swung around to look at a monitor and frowned. "Well, still Earth, it's just a few years prior. Looks like, yes, 6 years ago."

Sam felt dread shoot through his body. "Six years ago? Are you sure?" The Doctor looked over to see his expression.

"Why? What happened six years ago?"

"Oh, I dunno, a little something we like to call the Apocalypse. And I mean, specifically, the biblical one. Lucifer and Michael, the archangel showdown? Don't you know about it?"

"Only what your brother told me. I thought that happened at Stull cemetery? Aaaaanyway we're not there. Looks like we're just outside of a hotel in Muncie, Indiana."

"You mean a motel?" Sam had a sinking feeling in his gut. He hadn't just said Muncie, Indiana. No, no, no, no. " _Please_ tell me you mean a motel and not a hotel."

"No, I meant a hotel. Elysium Fields Hotel to be exact."  Sam's eyes widened and he swore.

"Doc, we can't  _be_  here! This is…this was…this was a pivotal point of us averting the Apocalypse. We can't interfere – Dean and I, and Cas, we've learned the consequences of interfering. This is bad, this is _very_ bad."

"It  _is_  a fixed point in time but there must be a reason the old girl brought us here. Why don't you tell me about it." Sam suddenly looked down at a realization.

"Can I get dressed first?"

"Yeah, follow me! To the wardrobe!" The alien darted around the console and bounded to the other side, to a door Sam hadn't seen before. He followed, snorting at the Doctors choice in words.

Feeling much better now that he was dressed, he explained about the trap at the Elysium Fields Hotel by the Gods of other religions and how Gabriel had tried to rescue them, was revealed for being an archangel and not a fellow God, and subsequently cut down by his own brother.

"Though, I often did wonder how Gabriel knew when to show up when he did." Sam ended slowly with a thoughtful look. "Dean and I are hidden from the angels by warding…and the other Gods had suspected that Loki wasn't who he said he was and hadn't even  _told_  him about the meeting." He looked over at the Doctor suddenly. "Could that be why we're here? Maybe we…maybe  _I'm_  meant to tell him about the meeting? Without Gabriel, we would have been lost. And it's rather important that Lucifer doesn't get a hold of us. We weren't ready. We didn't have a way to defeat him yet. Gabriel had to tell us how."

The doctor looked at Sam just as thoughtfully. He swiftly turned and ran through some scenarios on the confusing looking console before them and after a few minute declared that he was certain Sam was right and to get started on trying to contact the archangel right away.

"Just, Sam, be careful. With what you say. You're from  _his_  future specifically. You can't reveal too much of what's going to happen." Sam nodded as he followed the Doctor back through the maze of corridors to the control room of the TARDIS. Once there, he began to pray. Like his brother, he tended to pray out loud, verbalizing his thoughts to make sure they were heard. Though he wasn't anywhere near as flippant as his brother had been on many occasions when praying to Castiel.

"Uh, so, Archangel Gabriel, its Sam. Sam Winchester. Specifically, Sam from six years in the future. It's imperative that we talk on a…matter that is time sensitive. Extremely time sensitive." He looked around and tried not to heave a sigh of disappointment.

 Gabriel was a trying being to begin with and he was kind of pissed off at him and his brother at the moment, seeing as the last time they'd all seen each other had been when Gabriel was – once again – trying to teach them a lesson in TV land. It would probably take some doing to get him to show up. If he was even listening. Oh god, he hoped he was listening. How else would he get a celestial beings attention? They wouldn't have near enough time to try and find him. The angel had been flying under the radar for eons posing as a God. And if a summoning worked, he was sure Michael and Raphael would have tried that long before the Apocalypse.

In fact, the only other angel who'd seen him in probably millennia at this point in time was Castiel and that had been an accident. He looked at the Doctor. He was certain he was about to piss the Time Lord off with what he was about to do, but with Gabriel, you kind of had to sweeten the pot to get him interested.

"Look man, uh, angel, I mean. Um…So yeah, uh…Lucifer is after you, and I really need to talk to you. You uh, you're uh…slated to die, tonight, at your brothers' hands. So to speak. I can tell you when and how, but you gotta come talk to me man. Angel. What the hell do I call you anyway?"

"Loki will do, Samsquatch. 'Cause unless you and your idiot brother have blown my cover, I'm still incognito." He pulled a lollipop out of his pocket, unwrapped it and stuck it in his mouth. Slurring, "Now what's this about my brother?"

Sam tried to ignore the Doctors disapproving glare, but it was pretty difficult. He might not have been an archangel, but he had presence. The gangly man crossed his arms over his shirt, bow tie prominently displayed, jacket missing. Oh yeah, he'd taken the jacket off in the bunker. Sam wondered if he'd ever pick it back up. It had certainly been several lifetimes after he'd lost the scarf before he found it again, from what he gathered. Should he and Dean start a Time Lord's lost and found in the bunker. He almost snorted at the thought, but realized he was trying to distract himself from the moment at hand.

"Sam, what did I tell you  _not_  to do?"

"Shit, he wasn't going to come unless I gave him a good reason to. You don't know this guy."  Sam watched Gabriel as he leaned nonchalantly against one of the weird posts in the control room. He pulled the lollipop out of his mouth.

"The moose is right. I was all set to ignore him until that last tidbit. We aren't what you'd call on the best of terms." Gabriel sneered. "Now I want to know what's going on. And I want to know what a Time Lord is doing interfering with events on an insignificant mud ball." Sam flinched.

"I thought you liked Earth?"

"I do, mutton chops. I can still have some fun, though, can't I? Now can someone tell me why there is a gathering of Gods happening about 100 feet away from us? This wouldn't have something to do with why you called me down here, would it?"

"Uh, so yeah. I'm just…trying to figure out how much I can tell you." Sam ran a hand through his hair and didn't look at the Doctor. "We've seen what meddling with time can do, and we so do not want to piss Fate off again."

"Wooh, boy. Yeah, avoid that if you can. So what can you tell me." Sam stopped to gather his thoughts.

"Right, so, Kali, Baldur, Odin and a few other Gods are all in there laying a trap right now for my brother and I…the versions of us that belong in this year, I mean. They plan on using us as bargaining chips to stop the Apocalypse. But they are so very outmatched. And someone spills the beans to Lucifer about it. You arrive before he does to try and spring us out, but due to…one thing or another…" Sam was trying to be vague about this part because if he told Gabe what he was supposed to have done, he was afraid he might try to find other ways to do things and which could change the course of everything that came after. "None of us leave before he gets there. Gods go down, man. And you were last man standing. Face off between you and Lucifer."

"And that's how I die?" Sam nodded. The Doctor started grumbling about stupid apes. Sam tried to ignore him. "All right.  So answer me this, if you're trying  _not_  to muck time up, what are you doing here and why are you telling me? And hell, I didn't even know this was happening, so how would I know how to come here and  _why_  would I even be helping you morons? I was  _trying_  to get you to say yes, remember? Lucifer isn't going to kill _you_  kid. So you're safe as houses."

"Yeah, but he probably would try to kill Dean and if you don't go in there, the future changes man." Gabriel stared at him for a long time.

"You said you're from six years in the future?" At Sam's nod, he continued. "So is it safe to say the Apocalypse was somehow averted?"

"Sam!"

"Doc, I don't think it matters if I give him a yes or no answer to his question. It's not like…" The doctor threw up his hands and turned away from the two of them. Sam looked back at Gabriel. "Yes. It is safe to assume."

"Well, how the hell did you do _that_?" Sam was so flabbergasted that he didn't even notice how impressed Gabriel looked.

"How did - ? But you…you  _told_  us how!"

"Don't you think if I knew a way to stop the Apocalypse, I'd have done it myself?"

"No offense man, but I think you've been hiding for so long, it's all you really know how to do."

"Fair enough."

"Sam, I think that’s enough."

"No, I don't think so. I think this is why I'm here. This is why your TARDIS took off the moment I stepped on board. If Gabriel doesn't go in there, the future changes. If he doesn't tell us how to stop the Apocalypse, the future changes. This is a fixed point in time, right? Then that means we can _not_  allow it to change. Right? And if I don't tell him what he told us, then he can't pass on the message to past us …and the future changes."

"Besides Time Lord, what difference will it make if he tells me the future? You came here and tell me I die before the nights over, so how will future knowledge adversely affect things?" The Doctor looked at him suspiciously and Sam watched as Gabriel waggled his eyebrows at the alien, totally destroying the innocent look he'd been trying for. Finally, the Doctor threw his hands up in the air and grinned at both of them.

"Okay, you're both right. I was just testing you." He clapped his hands, "So it's time to get this show on the road! Sam, you still have to be careful what you tell him about the  _immediate_  future. But other than that, pfft…"

"So, Samwise, what can you tell me?" Gabriel waggled his eyebrows yet again, this time in an excited manner. Sam huffed a laugh at the shorter mans behavior, but it was really kind of weird and…weirdly sad…that he was seeing and talking with Gabriel again like all was normal, but he knew he'd be dead in a matter of hours.

"Look man, I won't lie to you. The next almost six years is a fucking mess. But…things got better. Like, you wouldn't believe it. But there's no time to go into all that right now anyway. So…remember the horseman? 'Cause it turns out, their rings are the key to Lucifer's Cage. Death teaches Dean how to use them as a key to the pit and we shuck Lucifer and Michael inside. You uh…leave us a message that we only get after you die. A recording…" Sam shifts uncomfortably. "You uh, used a porno to give us the message. Probably to keep other people from stumbling across it but hey, it worked."

"Yeah, that sounds like me. I guess I have some work to do. I need to make a set, find the perfect actress and write a script." He clapped his hands together and clasped them tightly and grinned around his lollipop. Sam shook his head and laughed. Gabriel turned serious for a moment, briefly popping the lollipop back out of his mouth.

"So, six years you said?"

"Yeah, man, six years. Everything gets better then."

"Like, how? How much better? Exactly _how_ does it become better?" Gabriel pushed. Sam still hesitated even though it shouldn't matter what he told him.

"Well um…God comes home, man. Turns out that Dean and I already knew him too. Even Cas had met him and we just, we never even knew."

"Dad came home?" Gabriel whispered, emotion swimming in his eyes, hope and disbelief warring on his face. "Why? What made him come home after…after all this time?"

"God knows, and Chuck ain't saying." Sam shrugged.

"Wait, Chuck? That nerdy little prophet with Raphael living out of his ass?"

"Oh yeah, you're an archangel, of course you know Chuck." Sam felt like he shouldn't have been as surprised as he currently felt.

"Sure I know him.  I may have fallen off Heaven's radar, but I remember my duties even if I haven't been attending them. And the names of all the prophets are constantly getting updated in my head. Kept trying to find a way to turn it off, to be frank. Annoying little shits the lot of 'em."

******************************************************************

Sam took a deep breath and paused in his story telling, and then concluded for Dean and Cas's satisfaction.

"So yeah, that’s pretty much what happened. Gabe made that porno we saw with the plan to use the rings and then he went to 'rescue us', and we all know how that turned out." Sam ended, taking a last swig of his beer, food long gone. 

He refrained from telling Dean the last part of it. Where he and the Doctor had monitored everything to make sure it was going as close to what parts he knew of, at least as much as he could remember. And he'd overheard the conversation between Gabriel and Dean about the Archangel blade. As soon as Sam had heard Gabriel say the words _"_ _You_ _think I'd give Kali my real sword? That thing can kill me!"_ he had almost headed for the door of the TARDIS before the Doctor stopped him in his tracks.

"Where do you think you're going, Sam?"

"I just…I need to…"

"We can't go in there. It's just like you said, things have to unfurl tonight the way they did before and Lucifer hasn't even shown up yet. It would be very unwise for you to go inside now."

"Yeah, yeah man, you're right. After…after everyone's left can we…I just want to…see him before we leave." The Doctor looked at Sam suspiciously but finally nodded. Sam was glad the Doctor didn't seem to have the angelic ability to read minds.

It seemed to take forever before it was safe for them to go inside the hotel. The shattered remains of the hotel was just as horribly bloody and littered with bodies as Sam remembered. Even though many of these Gods had gruesome worshiping practices, they were a part of history and culture that had been ripped apart without a second thought in mere seconds. Sam wasn't entirely sure it was fully deserved. They'd only been trying to survive. They'd only wanted the same thing Dean and Sam had wanted – to end the Apocalypse before it started, before it could destroy the world.

It didn't take long for Sam to stumble into the room the Gods had used for their little powwow. All that remained of Gabriel was the burnt shadow of a pair of wings on the wood grain floor. Somehow he had thought it would be different for an Archangel. In all the religious lore he'd ever read, it said that Archangels had six wings, not two. Then again, who knew how much of their angelic lore was wrong. He'd never heard that they needed to take vessels, for one.

He stared at the black spot on the floor, not even a body remained. Shit, what had Lucifer _done_ to the guy? After a few long moments he realized that there wasn't even a sign of the Archangel blade he'd been hoping to find. A hand landed on his shoulder.

  
  


"You know, Sam, I know it's hard to see a friend die. Harder to watch them die again. And it's good you want to pay your respects. But I know why you really wanted to come in here. I heard it too and all I can say is, no, Sam. Don't bother looking for it. It's not something you can change, not something you should change. That one little thing would cause so many ripples in your future. In a lot of peoples futures. This here, we were able to alter a little bit because it was always meant to be. But trust me, I'm a Time Lord and this is one thing that shouldn't be changed."

So no, he didn't tell Dean that he had tried to go back for Gabriel's blade. The sword that he hadn't even realized was more powerful for the Archangels than for the seraphs, Heavens grunts. He probably should have, he'd realized. Because, what if they had been able to kill Lucifer with the thing? If Gabriel was worried that his own could kill him, than it had to have the capability to kill Satan too.

And if they'd been unable to use it on Satan, what if they could have handed it to Cas so he could have used it on Raphael? The whole thing with the souls and Crowley and Eve could have been avoided. Leviathans and Purgatory. The tablets would have remained undiscovered. Sam would never have gone after the trials, Castiel would never have been tricked my Metatron, Abbadon would never have been released and Dean would never have been desperate enough to resort to the Mark of Cain.

It just continued to snowball from there. Because without having to worry about the Mark and what could happen to Dean because of it's influence, the Darkness would never have been released. Death would not have been killed. Castiel would never have said yes to Lucifer. A whole chain of events. If this, then that. So much pain and horror could have been avoided. Because of one, single turning point. It hurt to think about. It hurt both his head and his heart. And he'd had to witness an Archangel that had sorta been on their side be killed a second time without being able to do a thing to stop it.

"That was a touching story boys. I _am_ disappointed that I didn't get an eulogy though. I thought I meant more to you fellas. I did, after all, help you stop the big plan and give destiny the collective middle finger."

Three men jumped in their places at the sudden appearance of a fourth. The short, grinning archangel, lounging nonchalantly in the last chair at the table, feet kicked up between the empty dishes. He waggled his eyebrows.

"So, did ya miss me?"


	7. Wibbly Wobbly, Timey Whimey...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are getting too confusing, and its getting too crowded in the bunker for Dean to deal with. Sam's right there with him. 2 Hunters, 2 angels, 2 time travelers and the king of hell? When did their lives become a soap opera?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't help it, trying to find a way to explain Mark Sheppard in both fandoms ...  
> As for Gabe, this is pretty much what i'm thinking on what happened.

Dean could not believe his ears. Or his eyes for that matter. How the hell was Gabriel still alive? He wasn't even sure how he should feel about that. The guy was a dick, but…he'd really pulled through for them in the end. Then again, if he'd been alive this whole time and never come out of the woodwork when the shit had hit the fan – again and again and again – then, well, his true colors were revealed. Of course, if anyone could understand Gabriel's family issues, it would be him and Sam. After all, some of his and Sam's worst fights were over their dad. Standing up for him vs against him. Loyalty and doubt. It was, as Gabriel himself had pointed out in TV land, one of the things that  had made them the 'oh so perfect' vessels for Michael and Lucifer.

So okay, he may be a little happy that Gabriel wasn't dead. But he still wasn't happy about the Mystery Spot and he wasn't going to let Gabriel know that he wasn't still pissed as all hell. Gabriel smirked at him and narrowed his eyes. _Damn angel better not be reading my mind_. He turned at the sound of his husbands' voice and saw a small, but most definitely happy smile on the angels face.

"It's good to see you again, Gabriel."

"Oh no, seriously Cas? You can't seriously be happy that this douchebag is  _alive_?" Gabriel continued to smirk.

"No use hiding it, Dean-o. You're just as glad to see me." He put his hands behind his head and leaned further back in his chair, his voice smug as fuck while Dean glared.

"But Gabe…you were dead. I mean, I saw your scorched wings on the floor. How did you…?"

"Chuck probably resurrected him." Dean supplied.

"Nope. Chuck didn't save me. But  _I_ might be responsible for Chuck being around now, thanks to gigantors hints. Don't worry big boy, you didn't give away anything crucial but do you know how hard it was to play possum these past six years so I didn't break the timeline?"

"Break the timeline?"

"Do I have to spell out  _everything_ for you Neanderthals?" Gabriel's words were rude, but there wasn't any real heat behind them, Dean noticed with surprise. "Your brother went back in time. He  _told_  me when he was from and that as far as he knew, I was dead. That meant I had to be extra careful because I didn't dare risk doing just about  anything in that time frame without screwing things up. "

"And before you ask, I faked my death by pouring just enough grace into my illusion that Lucifer bought that it was the real me.  The idiot was always a self assured, arrogant ass and didn't realize that I was seriously underpowered. As soon as everyone was outta range, I snuck back into heaven and hid in plain sight. What better way to stay out of temptations way then to  _not_  be on Earth when the shit hit the fan. Again. And then again. I mean, you gotta admit, you boys certainly have a knack for it. All of you." Gabriel's gaze included Castiel, who ducked his head guiltily. Dean put an arm around his shoulders and touched his head to his husbands, trying to reassure him.

"Everything was going just fine till I got kicked out of heaven with the rest of the angels thanks to chuckles over here getting tricked by Meta-douche. And because Metatron had the angel tablet, he had more power than he knew what to do with and…figured out my secret. Castiel here was there for that one. It was way too soon and I thought my cover had been blown but thankfully…"

"I thought it was an illusion. At first, I hadn't been sure, then I was convinced you were alive, but in the end…I thought it was something Metatron had cooked up. It was the sort of convoluted plot only he could come up with so he could make his 'story' good."

"Finger quotes, brother? Sheesh." Gabriel shook his head fondly. "Anyway, there I was, stuck on Earth, no way back into Heaven without making my presence known and boy was I bored. Then I got thinking about what Sam here had said about Chuck. And how God had come back but no one knew why. And I thought, God may have been hidden from the angels, but prophets were not. The way Sam had talked, well, it made me think that Chuck  _was_  God.  And if God was posing as a prophet, well then, I was going to find the prophet and cling like a leech till he came home."

"Then I guess we should really be thanking you." Sam's eyes beamed. "I'm glad you didn't actually die Gabe."

"Gabe huh? Have I graduated to being someone you guys like? I rate my own nick name now, like Cassie?"

"Okay, but wait, my head hurts. It was already hurting after Sams' story but yours just…builds on it. Sam, you _gave_  Gabriel the information we needed to stop the apocalypse. You gave him the information that enabled him to find God and bring him home. But if he hadn't told us what we needed to know in the first place, and if God hadn't come home, we – you – wouldn't have been able to tell him  _anything_. So how could  _he_ have told us anything? I don't get it!"

"Yup, boys, that would be called a paradox. It's the kind of thing that throws Fate into apoplexy."

"Oh god, no no no, did we just piss her off again? 'Cause Cas was barely able to get her to back off the first time…and I'm not looking forward to a repeat of that."

"The Doctor didn't seem concerned about it and he's a Time Lord. So, I mean, shouldn't he know what could be changed and what couldn't be without causing some repercussions? Which means that…we should be safe from her, I guess? It just, it stands to reason that he would know right? He did seem pretty confident about it after all."

"Know what?" Even the angels jumped at the unexpected voice.

"Holy fucking shit! How the hell did you get in here without us hearing you?" Dean flinched into Cas as he took in the same gangly version of the Doctor as had desecrated his kitchen earlier that night. This time, he wasn't alone. A woman with wildly curly hair leaned against the lounging Doctor - where had he found more chairs? Weren't they all occupied already? – to speak up before he could.

"That’s because  _I_ didn't leave the parking brake on when I flew her in. He just absolutely hates it when I take it off."

"But I _like_ that sound!" Dean snorted at the sight of the Time Lord crossing his arms and actually pouting. She pinched his cheek.

"I know you do, Sweetie."

"So who's  _this_  hot potato?" Gabriel spoke up.

"This 'hot potato' is spoken for. And my name is River Song." River said serenely. The doctor stopped pouting long enough to raise an eyebrow at her.

"Since when?"

"Nu uh, spoilers." She grinned at him and he huffed.

"So are you a uh, Time Lord or, well, Time Lady?" Sam leaned forward again, eyes bright with curiosity.

"She won't tell me." The Doctor had reverted to pouting again. Dean had to refrain from another snort. Shit, it was like the man, the alien, was like a little child sometimes.

"The good Doctor here is currently a little wary of me. But he'll warm up to me. I should know, I've already lived it." River patted the Doctors shoulder in a way that was obviously supposed to be comforting but just led to her getting a suspicious and thoughtful look from the Doctor instead.

"This is getting confusing." Dean muttered. Gabriel started laughing.

"And that’s why even  _we_  don't mess around too much with time. I mean, sure, we  _can_  if we want to. And I suppose we have, when we needed to, or were ordered to. But honestly, what's the point? We've lived all of history already and if we're lucky, we'll live the rest of it all the way to the end. Why rush it?"

Castiel tilted his head at his brother and Dean felt his heart sink a little at the reminder of the lifespan of an angel. Because Cas was  _still_  an angel…all mojo'd up and everything. His lifetime with Dean would be just a blip to him, and after he was gone…why was he with Dean anyway? He tried to push those depressing thoughts away. He'd promised the angel when they started this that he wouldn't worry about it, but it was so hard  _not_  to.

Taking pity on the hunters, and their angel, River spoke up again, just loud enough to be heard over the still laughing Archangel. Cas looked over at Dean and smiled reassuringly, taking his hand underneath the table as they listened to her.

"See, the problem with knowing a Time Lord is that, not all your encounters with him happen in order. Now generally, there is  _some_  order to it, but in a few rare cases, like him and me, there is almost none. The Doctor and I, our lives are almost completely backwards from each other except for a few rare instances. I'm living in one direction, mostly and he bounces around inside it."

"We have to attempt to sync up our histories whenever we meet so we can try not to spoil each other's futures. This is, of course, difficult to do without accidentally tossing out clues anyway."

"I think that’s already happening to us, actually." Sam interjected.

"Oh? Who have you met?"

"Well I…I already told you, earlier today." Sam looked from the Doctor to his brother and around to the rest of the room a little hesitantly. "Which…just proves my point I guess? Cause if you don't remember it then, it must be in your future. So, you don't even remember what we just did?" He pointed between himself and Gabriel.

"Nope, I can say quite honestly that I have never met that being before in my life."

"Doctor, in the past two days we have met four of you. On five separate occasions.  You – well, this version of you - is the only one who has…repeated." Sam nodded.

"So we've met you, and I'm just gonna call you bowtie guy. Then there was leather jacket out at Stull, Scarf guy that Sammy met but Cas and I missed, and blue suit guy who was the first one we met. And according to you and Cas, you're all the same guy. Which, just, that’s just messed up." The Doctor nodded thoughtfully.

"I remember Stull, and the other two meetings, but the repeat of me? Hasn't happened yet."

"I have to say, you boys sure are taking this rather well." Dean watched River get up as she spoke and start poking around in his kitchen. Quickly, he got up as well. They may have all been uninvited, but guests were guests and if he didn't want them making a mess in  _his_  kitchen,  _again_  – he barely refrained from throwing a glare at the Doctor in memory of earlier – then he should probably make like a good host and offer drinks, at the very least. He tossed a comment over his shoulder as he started grabbing a few more beers out of the fridge.

"Well, really, what can you expect? Something weird like this is practically every day for us. Especially if  _he's_  around."

"What can I say, it's just  _soooo_ much fun to mess with you mutton heads. Speaking of which, I think I'm overdue for that by about, oh, I'd say, six years?"

"Gabriel, I swear to..to..to  _Chuck_  that if you ever pop us into TV land again without asking first, I  _will_  dig out the holy oil." Dean growled, swinging around to face the group at the table again. "And that's not even mentioning what you put Sam through at the Mystery Spot. At least  _I_  didn't have to  _remember_  all the times you killed me, but he sure as hell does."

"Hey, I was  _trying_  to teach you boys a lesson. So sue me if the second one was…not exactly…the right one. But the first was sincerely well meant. And it's not like you stayed dead. So, no hard feelings right? We  _did_  stop the Apocalypse together, right?" River sauntered back to the table, her eyes wide and brimming with curiosity as she stared at Gabriel.

"What  _are_  you?"

"Wouldn't  _you_  like to know?" He waggled his eyebrows at the stunning woman, despite her claims to be taken. Dean snorted. It was like he just couldn't help it. How long had he been 'slumming' it on Earth? Dean figured he'd definitely picked up a few non angelic qualities along the way. Then again, what had been Balthazar's excuse? He'd only been running from Heaven a short time, according to Cas, but he'd certainly picked up a few not so angelic traits himself. Then again…his train of thought derailed.

"I know that one's a Celestial." The Doctor pointed at Castiel.

"Just call him an angel, man, that’s what they are." Dean placed the beers down in front of Sam and his own space then raised a brow at the rest of the small gather, holding the beers up questioningly.

"I'll pass, thanks. Do you have a banana daiquiri? My last regeneration really liked those and I want to see if that still holds true.."

"No. We have beer. And hard liquor."

"Whisky, Dean. You have whisky and brandy and that’s about it for the hard liquor. I think you drank the rest." Sam pointed out. Dean shrugged, unconcerned.

"Okay, so then I need to go on a supply run. Point is, we don't have the fixin's for a banana daiquiri, even if I knew what those fixin's were."

"No problemo, Dean-a-reano!" Gabriel waved a hand and a drink appeared in front of the Doctor. Dean passed out the rest of the beers, though Gabriel turned down his offer just to make something that looked absolutely obnoxious appear before him. Dean winced at the drink.

"So, an angel? Really? Were you serious?" At the various nods she received from around the table, she continued. "Well, Obviously not one of the lonely assassins."

"I think she means one of the Weeping Angels. We ran into one out at Stull, remember?" Dean answered Sam's question before he could finish opening his mouth. "But yeah, Cas here's a seraph now, and Gabe there is the Archangel Gabriel. Who until just before you showed up, we thought was deader than a door nail."

"Yeah, I think I had something to do with that, unintentionally."

"Hey Sam-moose! Don't sound like you regret saving my life!" Whatever he was going to say next was stopped by the sound of exasperated yelling from the next room.

"I can't bloody believe it. Every  _single_  time! Can't I even make courtesy calls anymore?" Dean lowered his head into his hands. Fucking Crowley. Gabriel slowly turned to the hunters.

"Seriously? You have the King of Hell making house calls to your top secret bunker? Let me repeat that. The _King_ of _Hell_."

  


  
  


"And now you know why we have Devils traps painted all over the fucking place." Heaving a sigh, Dean stood up to leave the kitchen. Sam and Castiel followed because if Crowley was there, something had to be up and it couldn’t be good. The others followed just because, well, just because they were nosy, Dean supposed.

Trooping in, they all found Crowley at the bottom of the stairs from the entrance. As they all gathered around him, Crowley glared, all affronted, like he could expect any other kind of treatment from hunters who made it their life goal to get rid of all the monsters they found. Then his eyes fell on the other uninvited guests in the bunker and they went wide.

"Bollocks! I can explain!"

"Explain what?" Multiple voices called out.

"Explain wha- ?" Crowley spluttered. "What do you mean explain what? It's 2016. It's been close to 60 years. Aren't you the _least_ bit curious as to why I'm not almost dead??" Ah, Dean thought, obviously not talking to him or Sam, or Cas for that matter. Which left the Archangel or the time travelers. His money was on the time travelers.

"I don't even know who you are." The doctor shrugged. River, Dean noticed, was trying to act innocent and clueless. He didn't buy it for a second.

"Don't know….I'm the bloody King of Hell! Am I  _that_  forgettable???"

"King of hell? I thought you were FBI?" River quickly abandoned her act to focus on Crowley. Score one for Dean, he thought smugly, taking a sip of the beer he'd brought along with him.

"You know him?" The gangly Doctor leaned towards River, speaking quietly.

"Nuh uh, sweetie. Spoilers!" she tapped a finger to his nose.

"Since when do you pretend to be the FBI?" Sam inquired.

"What? I was a crossroads demon. I used any shtick I needed to get close to 'influential' people and con them into a deal. Just so happens I had an in at the White House back in the day. Remember a guy named Nixon?"

"I thought your meat suit was a literary agent from New York?" Sam was continuing to voice Deans' own thoughts and he listened intently, Castiel a warm presence by his side. He'd long ago given up caring what anyone thought of his obvious relationship with the angel, much less the self proclaimed King of Hell. 

"I never said _when_ he was a literary agent. What, you thought those didn't exist prior to the latter half of the 20 th century or something?" He sneered at the hunters. "Dimwits. Now release me."

"Release him?" The Doctor repeated. He turned to River, then to the hunters. "Release him?" He stepped forward to circle around Crowley, leaning in close to inspect the Devils Trap currently holding Crowley captive. River followed closely. "Ah, I see! It's like a mini Time Lock. Altered for the specific pattern of demonic parasites. This is ingenious!"

"Glad you think so, but I want out. I mean, what did I ever do to you? Aside from locking you up and hunting down your companions? But that was all part of the plan! I didn't _really_ do anything to you!" Crowley was starting to get flustered and loud again, but now Dean was concentrating on the Doctor who looked just as confused as everyone else…except for River.

"What plan? Plan for what?"

"What plan? The plan for…" Crowley trailed off, looking uncertain. "Well there was the…and then we…I…" he cocked his head to the side and everyone could see the wheels in his head churning. "I…why can't I remember? You!" He pointed accusingly at the Doctor. "You did something to me! You and your strange, alien tech.  Or…no wait, you can't remember anything either." Crowley looked frantically at River Song. "What do you remember?"

"Oh, I remember _everything_." She smirked.

"Then it was _you_ who did this to us. To me. _ME! The King of He -"_ Dean rolled his eyes. Crowley certainly was in one of his moods today. Dean so didn't want to deal with this. With him. Luckily, River interrupted his tirade before he could get really get any momentum behind it.

"Mr. Delaware, he doesn't remember it, because it hasn't happened yet. And I may have misrepresented _exactly_ how much I can actually remember. But none of that matters because whatever _we_ remember, we can't tell _him."_

"We all have holes in our memories? I'm sure you can understand me when I say that this is not reassuring to hear. And what do you mean, it hasn't happened yet? Bollocks! Don't tell me it didn't happen, because it bloody well _did_. I should know, I was _there!"_

"Yes, you were. I remember because so was I, even if the details are strangely absent. I remember that much."

"Then how the bloody hell doesn't _he_ remember?"

"Because for him, it hasn't happened yet. Now, shhh…spoilers!" River had reached over to cover the Doctors ears earlier in the conversation but the Doctor had merely ducked and batted her hands away. A crunching sound had Dean turning to find Gabriel sitting in a chair with a bag of popcorn in his lap. Dean looked at him incredulously.

"Really?"

"What? This is entertaining. Is this what life is like for you guys on a regular basis? 'cause if so, I'm moving in." Gabriel grinned at the group gathered around the demon.

"Oh hell no. Nope! Not happening! Out! Out! All of you, out!" Dean spun around, his voice getting louder. "I can't take you people and…and… _things_ … anymore. I want you gone. I'm going to bed." With a last frantic wave of his arms in the air, he stalked off, Castiel giving Gabriel a warning look before he politely made his goodbyes and followed after to attempt to calm down his husband. Suffice it to say, he had a few ideas.

"So Doc, I never got the chance to take a trip in your ship. Not enough time, last time which, you know, a little ironic considering. What say the three of us go on a little tour and leave these boys to their secret clubhouse?"

Sam watched the Doctor run off excitedly with Gabriel and River in tow. Leaving him alone with Crowley. They stared at each other before Sam decided, Fuck it, Dean was right. He wasn't dealing with this shit right now. He walked away, swiping at the lights and leaving Crowley in the dark, trapped at the bottom of the stairs. They'd deal with him in the morning.


	8. I'm still here, You Know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crowley finally gets to reveal why he's there and Dean gets a shocking phone call. Meantime, let's meet the Ponds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I feel like the last chapter got a little away from me character wise. Everyone wanted to say their own thing and go off in different directions and it was hard to herd the dialogue to where i wanted it to go AND still get everything out that i wanted.
> 
> same problem occurred for this one. My apologies. I think i really prefer scenes with less than 4 characters. 
> 
> ANYWAY! HEADS UP!  
> I've got a show coming up this Easter Weekend. 
> 
> As staff, i have to be there the day before it starts to do my duties. As the Manager of an entire section AND as an artist who will also be selling at the con, my Dual Con Prep is driving me crazy. I am VERY MUCH not ready. 
> 
> Anyway, I pushed to get this chapter out so there'd be something, but there probably won't be another update until sometime next week. Not exactly sure when as I'll need to recover. 
> 
> Usually what happens is I get home the day AFTER the con and i order food for the house and then I just find my bed and CRASH. HARD. Then, still exhausted, I continue the week as normal ( _which is me in a stockroom, making hour trips to give supplies throughout the building - i generally rack up 9-13k steps so, yup, i'll be exhausting myself even more before i've had much chance of recovery)_

Dean stumbled into the map room the next morning on his way to the kitchen and skidded to a halt as his eyes fell upon the fuming King of Hell. Shit, he'd forgotten about him. Never mind that now. Coffee first. It wasn't like Crowley was going anywhere. He ignored the shouting as he passed by him to get to the coffee brewer. He was joined shortly after by his brother and Cas.

"Dammit Dean, I was trying to sleep. Couldn't you keep him quiet for the rest of us at least?"

"Oi! I'm right here!"

"Sorry Sam, I forgot he was here."

"Well, where else would I be? It's not like I could bloody well leave when I'm stuck in a Devil's Trap and left here all night to rot! It's a good thing what I've got isn't time sensitive or we could all be screwed!" Crowley continued to yell.

"Besides, I have priorities, and he ain't one of 'em!" Dean shouted over Crowley. Sam made a face of agreement and nodded.

"Now, maybe it's 'cause I just woke up, but there's one thing I don't understand…" Sam started.

"Just one, Moose?"

"Can it, Crowley."

"Coffee first, Sammy." Dean felt like a freaking broken record these past few days.

"Fine." His brother gave him a bitch face and poked around the kitchen for something to snack on while they all waited for the coffee to finish brewing.  All of them continued to ignore Crowley.  Castiel looked back towards all the noise before turning to the brothers.

"Not that I'm advocating a trusting partnership or anything, we've seen how those go, but he wouldn't have come here without a reason. Shouldn't we at least find out what?" Dean rolled his eyes.

"Can you get the mugs, Cas?" Dean ignored the question. He'd already said what he wanted to say about the situation for the moment. Not his fault if no one was listening.

When they finally all settled in with steaming hot cups of coffee, they turned their chairs to face the seething demon who was doing his best to pretend that he wasn't affronted in the least. Dean almost snorted into his mug. He wasn't fooling anyone.

"Okay, now first things first. How do you know the Doctor, and  _why_  were you working with him?"

" _That's_  what you want to know?" Crowley stared at them incredulously. "I show up in your secret, "No Girls Allowed" clubhouse unannounced and you don't even want to know  _why?_ Seriously? Fine, whatever!" he threw his hands up in the air. "Not like anything important is going on, we'll just have a bleeding look at something that happened 60 bloody years ago!"

"Just spill already, will ya? If what you came here for is so important, then the faster you answer our questions, the faster you can get to your news of the week."

"Can I at least get a chair?"

"No!" two voices simultaneously shouted while the angel smirked smugly into his mug.

The King of Hell crossed his arms and grumbled and pouted and refused to speak. Dean rolled his eyes and put his mug down, eyeing his husband.

"You wanna do the honors?" Castiel nodded and placed his own bee covered mug back down on the table. He rose and walked closer to Crowley, his hand held in front of him, eyes starting to glow. Crowley's eyes widened.

"You  _wouldn't_! After all we've been through? You'll just smite me like that?" he stared desperately at the hunters. "Oh come on! We make a good team! Remember the Apocalypse? The Leviathans? Abbadon! Cain! Lucifer! Think where you would be without my help!" His voice was getting just as desperate.

"You only helped us because it was in your best interest too, not because it was for the greater good. Which is why we wanna know why you were helping the Doc?"

"Do I have to spell it out for you? Did you  _see_  the technology he had? I can roam the Earth with just a thought." He snapped his fingers to emphasize the point. "But imagine the souls I could gather if I could leave the  _planet_!"

"Well, he's nothing if not consistently ambitious." Dean muttered to Sam. Sam nodded as Cas spoke again.

"How long have you known about the Doctor? How did you track him down?"

"That was the first time I ever met him. I didn't know he existed – that _aliens_ existed – before that and I have _neve_ r been able to track him down. God knows I've tried. You don't find him, he finds you. As I have cause to know. The Doctor can go anytime, anywhere, and he slipped through my bloody fingers." Crowley frowned at the memory of the failure. "Meeting him was pure happenstance. Bleeding blind luck. Right place, right time and I took advantage of it. Have you even  _met_  me?"

"Yeah, that sounds like you alright. So, to sum up, you were hanging around the FBI and the White House, working undercover to gather more souls when the Doctor appeared in your way.  You drooled over the technology and teamed up with him and his companions on a mission you can't even remember to try and pull the wool over his eyes long enough to abscond with the TARDIS. Did I miss anything?"

"No. That's about it in a nutshell." He sneered at them. "Now can we finally get down to business?"

"Well, I find it strange that the Doctor worked with you at all on that mission, considering that by then, he had to have known who and what you were." Castiel pointed out. "Which means, whatever you were doing, was very important, and possibly dangerous."

The door at the top of the stairs creaked open and the Doctor with the bowtie sauntered in, followed by a different woman, a redhead this time, and a nervous looking man with dirty blonde hair. The three of them arranged themselves at the railing and looked down.

  


  
  


"Oh hey, look, it's our old pal Canton." The red head called down.

"I'm not your bloody pal!" Crowley had had enough of everyone today, and he wasn't even going to attempt to be nice anymore. The cat was already well and truly out of the bag, and there was no point in pretending to be that person anymore.

"Hi fellas!" The Doctor waved enthusiastically. "Have you met the Ponds yet?"

"Williams. It's Williams." Dean heard the blonde say to the Doctor after he turned to face him. When the Doctor ignored him, the other man then turned back to the red head. "He's doing it on purpose, isn't he?" She smirked back.

"Probably. You know how he is." 

"Right then. This is Amy and that's Rory. They're married. To each other, not to me." The Doctor bounded down the stairs and the couple followed suit. Amy was almost as enthusiastic in her approach as the Doctor while Rory followed more sedately, an air of exasperation following him.

"So, hullo again all. Been a while since I've seen you." The Doctor beamed.

"You left with Gabriel only last night." Dean pointed out. The Doctor paused and then waved a hand negligently.

"Well, yes. But that was  _ages_  ago for me!" Amy snorted at his response and the looks on the faces of everyone not in the Doctors little party.

"Let me guess, you've had a whirlwind introduction to the Doctor over a very short period of time?"

"Quite so." Castiel was the one to answer this time, and like a dog with a bone – or an angel on a mission – he went right back to his line of questioning; only switching his focus to the newcomers. "Doctor, may I inquire as to what it was you and Crowley worked together on? We have decided that it must have been something very important, possibly even quite dangerous. We find ourselves curious as to what that may be."

"Ah well, yes. Well. The mission as some would call it. I'd rather call it an adventure but, anyhow. Well, see, it was very important. And dangerous as you surmise, but uh…part of the problem with the mission was that we couldn't remember it."

"Then how did you know there was a mission to be had, if you couldn't remember what it was?"   
  
"Ah yes, well, see, that _was_ the mission. Figuring out why we kept forgetting things, getting gaps in our memories. But we recorded...something? I can go look in the TARDIS for the recording. Suffice it to say, it was a deadly threat to humanity that even your pal Canton couldn't ignore."   
  
"Crowley! It's Crow - oh for gods sakes, why do I even  _bother_  with you people?!"   
  
"This one's a bit pretentious isn't he, now? I liked him better when he was Canton..."   
  
The demon threw his hands up in the air. "I can't bloody believe this. I don't need to be here to suffer this abuse."   
  
"No, but you will, since we're not letting you out just yet." Dean threw in. Turning to the Doctor and his newest companion, Dean decided that he would totally play up the whole good host thing as long as it made Crowley suffer. "Can I get any of you a drink? There's a fresh pot of coffee."

They let Crowley suffer just a little bit longer before they all settled in around the map table. Six of them now, all staring at the demon expectantly. Dean made a 'get on with it' motion with his hands, only to receive a dirty look in return.

"Fine," Crowley muttered before dropping his arms and glaring at them, raising his voice to be heard above the shuffling. The Doctor and the angel sat close enough so that they were sharing a bowl of popcorn, Amy reaching between them from behind to snag her own handfuls. Crowley reserved a bit of his glare just for them. He couldn't believe they weren't taking him seriously. Well, that'd change soon enough. "Just thought you should know that _something_ is taking out demons."

"And this is a bad thing how?" Dean couldn't believe his ears. How could Crowley think they'd even care about something like that? Demons being offed was a good thing!

"Because, smartass, it ain't hunters or even Heavens holy choir boys that's doing it. That means a new power in town. An unknown power that it just might behoove us all to find out _what it actually is!_ Just in case it, you know, isn't as benevolent as little old me? Really, this is your wheelhouse _._ I shouldn't need to tell you how to do your bloody job."

The hunters exchanged looks with each other and the angel before looking back at Crowley. Their entire body language had changed from annoyed and negligent, to alert and possibly concerned. Castiel even pushed the popcorn bowl away from himself, letting it fall completely into the lap of the gangly Doctor who eagerly grabbed at it and yanked it away from Amy before she could snag the entire bowl from him.

"Get your own Pond."

"Spoilsport." She pouted at him and Rory slouched in his chair.

"Alright, you have our attention. Now, get with the details."

"Thank you very much." Crowley sneered.  "I've lost 30 demons so far, all from the same location, all gone without a trace. Nothing, and I _mean nothing_ , should be able to have reached them where they were, other than more demons, angels, reapers and a pair of flannel clad Winchesters who always seem to find a back way in."

"Are you saying they're going missing from _Hell_? Are you sure they're not just leaving their posts?" Sam exchanged another look with Dean. It wasn't that long ago, after all, that Lucifer had all the demons panting at his feet and torturing Crowley for the fun of it. How he'd gotten them back under his thumb so easily had been cause for concern for the brothers.

"Absolutely."

"Where in Hell are your demons when they disappear? Is it a place of significance?" Castiel leaned in intently.

"I'll say. Only the most important section of the whole underworld that isn't my throne room."

"Crowley, your throne room isn't even _in_ Hell. You hate Hell." Sam pointed out. Crowley shrugged.

"That doesn't matter. The point is, I have demons guarding Lucifer's Cage after God repaired it and they've gone missing. Aren't you the _slightest_ bit concerned?"

"Lucifer's Cage? _Lucifer's Cage_?? You have….Lucifer's Cage….and demons…." Dean spluttered incoherently. Thankfully Sam was able to pick up his train of thought and finish it for him.

"You have demons guarding the Cage and didn't think it was time sensitive when things started to happen to them?"

"If God repaired the Cage, then why are you guarding it?" Cas skipped over Sam's question to one he thought more pertinent.

"Because if I had done so the first time we put the Devil back in his cage, we might have realized something was wrong before it cracked and he got the _hell_ out of Hell!"

"Okay, I can get behind that. Obviously, it paid off." Sam nodded, the four of them now completely oblivious to the trio sitting behind them munching on the popcorn like the scene before them was the best drama ever.

"Yeah, great, awesome. What's making demons disappear? Is Lucifer breaking free again?" Dean stood up to start pacing.

"I've checked the Cage. As far as I can tell, it seems intact, but something is bloody well goin-." Crowley's voice faded away as Deans ears picked up the ringing of his cell. Stepping away from the group and trusting his brother and Castiel to needle the King of Hell for any information they needed, he thumbed his finger across the face of the screen and lifted it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Dean? Dean Winchester. Oh please tell me you're Dean. Please be real, please be real." A nervous voice on the other end of his phone that he didn't recognize made the hair on the back of his neck rise.

"Yeah? And who the hell are you and how did you get this number?"

"I'm um, this is gonna be hard to believe, but just hear me out, okay?" Dean pinched the bridge of his nose. It wasn't even 9am and this was how his day had started. The King of Hell trapped in the bunker, admittedly their own doing but never mind that now. Then more surprise visitors, a mystery monster or monsters of the week and some mystery person who shouldn't have his number. Wonderful. What else was going to happen to make this day even better?

"Just spit it out already, will ya?"

"Uh…well, my name is Marie, and I'm Krissy Chambers granddaughter." Dean froze.

"No, that's impossible. See, Krissy's just a kid and I talked to her only a couple of days ago."

"Yeah, a-about that…look, I can explain everything. I'm um, I'm at a diner in Lebanon right now and I've got proof. Gram said this was as close to wherever you're living as I could get and that I'd have to hope you weren't out on…on…" she trailed off and then whispered so low, he could imagine her looking around to check that no one was listening to her, covering her mouth over the phone. "on a _Hunt_." She cleared her throat, voice returning to normal volume. "Said when I got here, to call this number and no sooner than today. I gotta tell you, it was all very weird and I thought she was having me on until…until you answered."

Dean sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Crowley's information was important and very concerning. He had been right about that, and about bringing it to their attention. Faced with that, whatever was going on with Krissy should wait. But damned if he was gonna leave someone he cared for in hot water.

"All right. All right. I'll uh…give me some time, maybe an hour? And I'll meet you at the diner."

"Thank you!" a breathless reply, then the phone hung up and Dean pulled his away from his ear to look at it perplexed.

"Dean, is everything all right?" A hand landed on his shoulder, _the_ shoulder, as his husbands' low rumble echoed softly in his ears.

"Yeah uh, I don't know? Someone claiming to be Krissy's granddaughter needs to meet with me. Um, so I guess…I'm going to go head out there now, see what's up." Cas looked at him, head tilted in that adorkable way that Dean loved.

"Krissy? Isn't that the young hunter you and Sam met a few years back?" At Dean's nod. "That does sound…very odd. Why don’t I go with you?"

"You know what Cas, I think I'd feel better if you stuck around here for now." Dean looked over his husband's shoulders to see Sam still faced off with Crowley and the Doctor and his two friends watching intently. No, wait, the Doctor was staring at _them_ instead. He couldn't hear them, could he? "I think I need you to keep an eye on these guys. If something comes up that you need me for, you can always get me in a blink. And I promise that if something's up on my end, I'll pray to you. You and I both know that you're more in tune with me than Sam anyways."

Castiel nodded reluctantly and sighed. He pulled Dean into a hug that Dean didn't hesitate to return. He lingered as long as he could before he pulled away from Cas and walked back towards the rest of the group.

"Okay, I gotta run into town. Could be a thing. You kids behave, you hear me?" Dean gave them all a stern look and pointed at them severely. Sam rolled his eyes.

"Y'know, Dean, that kinda loses its impact when you're standing there in boxers." Dean waved a hand at them and made _pfft_ noise as he turned and stalked off, snagging the rest of his coffee on the way back to his room. Not even bothering with a shower, he quickly dressed and armed himself, coffee now long gone, and grabbed his keys. On his way back out, he stopped only long enough to give his husband a kiss, then flipped off their guests when the red head cooed at them.

"Oh, hot! You guys dating then?" Not taking his eyes off Cas, Dean switched the finger he was holding up, Cas maneuvering his own left hand so she could see his as well. She took in their matching rings. "Married!  Even better. Congratulations! Nothing quite like it, now, is there?" The husbands ignored her as Dean's brief kiss turned into several brief kisses before finally pulling away.

He bounded up the stairs and stopped at the top to look down over the railing. He pointed his finger back down at them all again. "Remember. Behave. Or I'll sic Cas on you." The number of rolling eyes in the room chased him out the door.


	9. Diner Meetings and Potential Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean goes to meet Marie at that diner, only to find the Doctor there first. When the story comes out, Dean feels sick. First Crowleys news, then Krissy's granddaughter - it couldn't be linked, could it? Dear Chuck, Dean hoped not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote 2 . 5 pages of this WHILE at con. I'd get back to the room after midnight every night. Hit the hay around 1 or 2 am and then wake up between 6 and 7 am. Artist Alley hours are long. Longer for the staff. And I knew I was sleep deprived, I KNEW I was starting to nod off while I was typing one night, but it was funny that during my re-read after I got home, i looked at the last sentence I typed and thought "What was I thinking?"
> 
> It was grammatically correct, but the wording sounded like it was going off in a different direction that really didn't make sense with the story. of course, now that i was fully awake, i had no idea what that direction was. and i'm praying i didn't have a stroke of genius that i promptly forgot and that it was just me being sleep deprived.
> 
> i changed one word - just one - in that sentence and everything fell back into place. So i'm going with sleep deprived.
> 
> Oh, and if you're interested, I also made a replacement picture for chapter one.
> 
> Also, my website seems to be down so the pictures on ALL my stories are having issues. I have to replace every link with an equivalent on a different site. This is killing me...i don't know why my website is down. ARGH!

Dean pulled into the parking lot of the diner. It wasn't one he'd frequented, didn't want to give the wrong people the idea they were based in the area after all, even if they actually were, but they'd been there often enough to be familiar with it. He sent a text out to Cas to let him know he'd arrived. He didn't want his husband to panic thinking something was wrong if he started praying. Praying was for emergencies, or sentimental crap he didn’t want anyone else to overhear. Not that he did that or anything. The green eyed man smirked to himself, glad no one could see him.

He eyed the parking lot, looking for anything suspicious before he entered the diner. Another quick look inside didn't reveal anyone of interest or anyone who might fit the picture in his mind of the woman on the phone. He walked in a little further, heading towards the back end of the diner and froze. He couldn't fucking believe it.

"Son of a bitch! You! What the hell, man? Every time I turn around, there you are! Are you following us?" Dean stalked over to the booth where the very first Doctor he'd met just a bare few days past was sitting and tinkering. Without even looking up, the Doctor dismissed Dean.

"Is that so? Weell… I certainly don't remember you."  The hunter spluttered.

"What do y-? How can you not - ? How- what…what do you _mean_ you don't remember me??? You're not even looking at me!" At that the Doctor tilted his head up, squinted at Dean and shrugged, returning his attention to whatever it was in his hand. "Oh come on, this is like the millionth time tha -" Dean paused in his exaggeration, a look of realization on his face. He patted at his pockets and pulled out the tiny little book he'd stashed there, no bigger than his palm, and flipped through its meager contents as he took a seat. He didn't want to draw attention to them after all. Any more than he already had, that was.

"Okay, okay…well, I'm right. I know I'm right. You're still you. The Doctor. I've seen three different you's now but you, this you, should remember me. I mean, this is the second time I've met you, well, uh, this you, and even if I've got this you out of order then…then you should at least remember me from the previous you, when we met at Stull."  Dean glanced back at his book again to confirm than nodded.  Anyone listening in would have been completely confused by his fumbling words but he was certain they came out well enough for his intended recipient. The Doctor had been lazily leaning back in the booth, still fiddling with the odd device in his hands when he finally registered Dean's words and dropped forward.

"Ooooooh! Oh now I remember! Right! Riiight….you're Mr. itchy trigger finger!" The Doctor beamed at Dean. "So nice to see you again Dan."

"Dean. It's Dean." Dean's eye twitched.

"And where's that angel fellow? You did say  _us_ , didn't you?"  _Now_  he seemed interested. Dean's eye twitched even more as he answered in a testy voice.

"You mean my husband, Castiel?" Before the alien in the suit could do more than grin, they were interrupted.

"Dean? Dean Winchester?" The hunter heard a quiet voice behind him and he whirled around in his seat to face outward. Right, there'd been a reason he was coming to the diner. How could he have gotten so caught up in the Doctor that he'd forgotten? He came face to face with a young girl and oh god, she was a spitting image of Krissy, except for the color of her eyes. But that could always be a matter of contacts and for a moment he forgot what she'd said to him over the phone.

"Krissy?" Dean moved over in the booth to make room for her – he wasn't about to let the doctor out of his sight either, he wasn't done with him yet – "Are you all right?" She eyed the stranger sitting with Dean before warily sitting down.

"Um…I'm not Krissy, that's my Gram. Uh…I've got…well, you probably won't believe this but I do have some things to show you to, to prove that I'm not lying. Or crazy." She pulled a satchel across her lap, her hands hesitating to dart inside as she looked over at the doctor again.

"Don't worry about him." Dean nodded at the man in the suit. "From what I can tell, he loves crazy and I get the impression he's seen a loooooot of it, things that most folks wouldn't even believe, if they hadn't seen it for themselves. It's…uh…It's safe." Dean hesitated to say. He still wasn't entirely sure of this Doctor fellow. After all, a future version of him had willingly worked with Crowley even knowing what he was. But he might be helpful, after all. Depending on what this Krissy look alike told him. Maybe he could get the guy to make a trip in his time machine to see the real Krissy.

"Well, okay then, if you're sure." She looked between the two men and then nodded, as if to herself. She reached into her bag and pulled out several envelopes and a box. She sorted till she got the one she wanted, and then handed it to him. "Here, Gram said to read this first. It will tell you everything. Everything else is proof." She placed the rest on the table within his reach, to grab whenever he was ready for it.

While Dean busied himself reading the letter, Marie clutched her fingers together in her lap. A waitress came by and took their orders. Dean barely came up long enough to ask for a burger with bacon and fries, while the Doctor asked for nothing, and Marie went for tea, presumably to calm her nerves.

  
  


"So, who are you then, eh?"

"Um, Marie Tolver."

"And what is so strange you think no one would ever believe you?" The Doctor had stopped fiddling with the device in his hand and was now leaning on the table with both elbows, chin propped in his hands. She fidgeted, looking at Dean then back to the Doctor. "Come on, I promise I won't laugh. Unless it involves leprechauns. It doesn't involve wee little men, does it?" at her bemused head shake he beamed. "Well then, what have you got to lose?" She laughed a little.

"Uh….time travel. Sort of? Like, one way, accidental time travel. I would never have believed it but, Gram predicted too many things that came out, well, exactly as she said it would."

"Reaaaally now?" The Doctor leaned even closer if that was possible. Dean, without breaking eye contact from the lines he was reading, reached a hand out to shove the Doctor back by the shoulder.

"Dude…you're as bad as Cas with the personal space. Only I don't mind with him. Why don't ya back off?"

"Oi!" The Doctor leaned back, offended. Marie just stared at the two men. Both of them seemed to be ignoring her now, but not unkindly. Neither of them had laughed at what she'd said either. That, that was actually a good sign. The Doctor not only had seemed willing to believe her, but was also ready for details while this Dean person hadn't yet yelled that she was trying to pull a prank on him. She sighed in relief, and to distract herself, she turned to the abandoned device on the table before either of the men could ask her more questions.

"What were you making?"

"Oh, well, not making, really. More like a bit of repair. I created it for something else, yet it seems to boil chicken eggs whether I want to or not. Doesn’t seem to matter if they're still  _in_  the hen at the time either. Which, well, just a bit messy when they blow, to be honest. Thought I'd try to rewire it, maybe reverse the polarity or something, see if I can get it to ignore eggs, or at least, the ones that haven't yet been laid."

He didn't seem to notice the weird and alarmed look on Maries face. What kind of people had she fallen in with that they weren't phased by the idea of time travel, and casually talked about blowing up chickens with weird looking technology that made her think of Star Trek as if it was an everyday occurrence to them? What kind of people had her Gram known? While she stared silently at them, the Doctor went back to tinkering. Suddenly, the device in his hands came to life. She thought she heard a "What the fuck!?" come from the kitchen that was ignored by everyone else at her table, as the man in the suit excitedly dropped the tool he'd been using and tried to read the display on the device whirring away and lighting up in his hands.

"Well, fancy that! Looks like my Timey-Whimey detector is picking something up! Or I just increased the range from 30 paces."  The man in the suit sent a guilty look back towards the kitchen.

"Timey-whimey? You serious? How old are you??? And Sam has the nerve to tell me I'm shit at naming things. But if it's detecting time stuff, man, that'd probably be me. I think I've been back through time at least 5 times. Forward once, and that's not counting two alternate dimensions."

"Well, that is all sorts of impressive." The Doctor eyed him for a second as Dean had already lain down the letter and started rifling through the box. Marie watched the blue suited man fiddle with the device again, waving it around at various objects on the table after waving it around the humans sitting across from him. "No, I mean besides you, Dean. I'm almost positive this is something else. A specific type of time energy. One I've actually seen before." The Doctor paused and his excited demeanor froze in what seemed to be a very unnatural state to Marie. "Oh…this isn't good." His hand hovered over an object in the box even as Dean reached to pull it out. Dean paused at his tone, however, and looked back up at the Time Lord. Now _he was_ getting a sinking feeling.

"You've seen this energy before? Time travel energy that isn't um….time lord type? Or, um, celestial type?"

"Indeed I have, twice. Once with you, in fact. And your husband. Then some time later, not long ago now, I learned a lot more about the source of it."

"Oh no, no, no, no, are you talking…those lonely assassin angel statue _things_?" Dean pressed. Marie put a hand up to cover her mouth as she gasped. The two men turned to look at her.

"You mean…my Gram's stories were real? I mean, I guess I knew they had to be, right? Since she kept predicting the future, but, those could all have been good guesses or coincidences, right?" Her voice shook as she spoke.

"All right, you have my undivided attention. What stories?" The Doctor leaned in again and once again Dean reached forward and shoved him back.

"Dude, you're going to freak her out. Back off…" With a shakey smile at Dean, Marie took a deep breath and started to speak.

"Gram used to talk about, about monsters. About hunting… _things_. Like, you know, vampires and…and stuff like that. Used to have strange sigils decorating the house everywhere. Salt was always in big supply around our house. Like, way more than normal amounts of salt. Said she got out of it…she was afraid to live too…um…large? Like if she did, it'd mess things up. She used enough of her predictions to keep the family financially stable, right? But other than that she was pretty low key. Stayed out of important things. Gave up the hunting, not that any of us really believed she used to do that until the day someone tried to mug her. My Gram, white haired and ass-kicking." Marie shook her head bemusedly. Dean chuckled right along with her.

"Yeah, that sounds like Krissy all right." His voice was filled with fondness. The shared a moment of silence in fond reminiscing before Marie got back on track. She cleared her throat.

"Said it was a hunt gone wrong that wound her up in the last century. She'd been tracking something causing disappearances near Lawrence, Kansas. Figured she'd check out the site, and then call you about it. Only, she never got the chance. Said it was a statue that did it. A statue of an angel. First there wasn't anything there, and then she turned around to go back and it was right behind her. Where it came from, she said she never knew. But before she could react, before she did anything more than blink in surprise, it had touched her and…that was that."

Dean turned away, and resumed his motion of reaching into the box. He pulled out what looked to be a very old, very beat up phone. If only it wasn't a model that had come out just last week. And thanks can go to Sam for him even knowing that, since Sam had gone and updated all of theirs. He stared at it, the dead device in his hands. The Doctor's detector was hovering over it as well, going crazy. They both stared at each other. Dean didn't know what the Time Lord was thinking, but he knew he didn't like what he was thinking.

"Where did Krissy say she was when she encountered the statue?"

"Some cemetery. Stull, I think?"

"Doc, that's probably what drew you out there when I found you there 2 days ago." The Doctor nodded.

"I think you're right."

"You were there?" Marie had been about to sip her tea but put the mug back down to look at them with wide eyes.

"After the fact, or so it appears. The Weeping Angel that got your Gram is gone now." The Time Lord reassured the young woman with a pat on the arm. "His husband, the _actual_ angel, took care of it actually."

"Wait, _actual_ angel? Like, a real angel? God and Heaven and all that jazz, Revelations and judgment day, the whole biblical deal?" Dean groaned at the reverence in her voice.

"God dammit. It's nothing to get excited about, okay? Most angels are just dicks with wings anyway. I've said it before and I'll say it as many times more as I need to."

"But you married one?" She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. That totally didn't make him think of Cas. No, do _not_ think of Cas. If he thought too hard, Cas might show up thinking he was praying for him.

"Well, _he's_ not a dick. I mean, we've both had our moments but, Cas is a good guy." Dean froze, his mouth dropping open, his expression turning to one of horror. Thinking about Cas and trying not to accidentally call him there reminded him of the shit storm he'd left behind when he'd come out to meet Krissy's supposed granddaughter.

And now he was thinking things he really didn't want to. Connecting dots he hoped to hell were wrong. Cause it couldn't be connected, could it? The Weeping Angel out at Stull, drawn as the other Doctor had said, to the significant event, the energy that had been embedded there….and the sudden disappearances of demons from right outside Lucifer's Cage? It had to be a coincidence, right?

"Doc, what would happen if a Weeping Angel touched a demon?"

"I don't rightly know. But my guess is they'd disintegrate. Weeping Angels take the potential life, the energy of a person. It's what casts them back in time. A Demon is already dead, a twisted remnant inhabiting – usually – another already dead human being. The potential for a future is pretty much nil for both of them. Therefore, being touched by a Weeping Angel likely kills them outright after sucking what little it can out of the shared body. But that's just a guess, as I'm unfamiliar with these demons."

"Shit. Shit shit shit." The hunter started digging into his pocket for his phone. "And you said the one at Stull was attracted by the residual energy there, left over from the battle between Lucifer and Michael." A nod from the Time Lord and Dean was thumbing his phone on, his finger already hovering over the speed dial for his brother. "And we opened an entrance to the Pit there once. Straight to the Cage. _We_ don't have the keys for that anymore but…can they get through there?" The Doctor shrugged.

"Unknown. If anyone could, probably they could." He leveled a serious, penetrating gaze at the Hunter. "Dean…what's going on?"

"If I'm right, and I sure as hell hope I'm wrong, nothing good." He pressed the call button and his brother answered pretty quickly. He put it on speaker and told Sam to do the same.

"Okay Sammy, role call."

"What? Why?"

"Just do it."

"Okay, well, it's just me and Cas right now. I let Crowley go since we need more information."

"What about our other guests?"

"Oh, bowtie and the Ponds left. Said he had lived this story already and couldn't be involved."

"Well, that…seems to be a good sign, maybe? Because I have blue suit here with me now, and Krissy's granddaughter too. But if the other him already experienced this and is still alive…"

"Then whatever happens we're good?" Dean could hear the cautious hope in the younger Winchesters voice.

"I would not presume to take that as a given. Just because the Doctor has survived whatever happened does not mean that we will."

"Thanks Cas, for taking away all our hopes." Dean muttered, just loud enough to be picked up by the speaker as he ignored the Doctors comment of "He's right, you know."

"I'm just pointing out that we have gone on cases with less hope and still emerged on top. It would not do to be careless because we think the future cannot be changed." Dean rolled his eyes.

"So situation normal then, eh?"

"Dean, what's going on?"

"What other information did Crowley give about the demon disappearances by Lucifer's Cage? Has he actually gone down there himself? Did he see anything? Anything out of the ordinary, or just, you know, new?"

"As a matter of fact, yeah. He said that…there was statuary, actually. Angels with their faces hidden in random parts of the room. He thought…God did some redecorating when he fixed the Cage."

"Fuck. Call Crowley. Get him back there fast. Get him away from the Cage. Get everything away from the cage. I'll meet you back at the bunker – "

"Dean, I can come get you –"

"No, Cas. I'm not leaving Baby here."

"Don't be stupid Dean, I can bring her too."

"So can I." The Doctor said smugly. Dean raised a skeptical eyebrow at him.

"Really, Doc? Cause I don't think she can fit through your doors. No matter how big the inside is."

"Pfft…details. I'll just tether her to the TARDIS. Think tractor beam without the tractor. Or the beam." He leaned forward again, getting way too close for Deans comfort. "It sounds like we should be getting back in a hurry, and I have no desire to leave my TARDIS here either. The Weeping Angels have gone after it before." Marie watched with a confused look on her face as she listened to the two men and the strangers on the phone.

"What – whats going on?" Dean and the Doctor looked at her for a second, falling silent. Then they looked at each other giving questioning glances. Almost simultaneously, they both sighed as one of them nodded the other spoke.

"You are coming with us. Your Gram was already a target. Who's to say her descendents won't be. You'll be safe in the Bunker. Cas, now that we know your brother is alive, why don't you ring him up and drag his ass back to the bunker as well. We might need back up on this one."

"Of course, Dean." Even over the phone, Dean could hear the flutter of wings. He turned it off and started gathering everything together. He dropped money on the table and nudged Marie. The two of them followed the Doctor to where his TARDIS was hiding. Behind the dumpster at the back of the diner. Of course it was. Well, that certainly explained why Dean had seen nothing.

"Okay, how does this work?" Dean asked as he stepped inside, followed by Marie whose jaw dropped. Sparing not a glance at her, both men walked up to the console.

"Easy enough, I'll park next to your car and then activate this. The TARDIS shields will extend to include her and our next destination will be your Bunker. Which, well, I'll need coordinates from you to reach." Dean nodded and pulled up the info from his phone, giving them to the alien.  Before he knew it, with that strange wheezing whine echoing through the room even louder than anytime he'd heard it before, they'd picked up his car and landed right back in the kitchen.

"Dude, is this your favorite place to park or what?"

"How do you mean?"

"Well, every time you visit the bunker – and I still have no idea how you get past our wards – you always land in the kitchen."

"Ah! That'd be because of you."

"I don't get it."

"Your wards are _very_ good. Especially without the use of advanced technology. It would even keep my TARDIS out under normal circumstances."

"Then how did you get in?"

"I'm assuming because this trip with you inside the TARDIS marks us as okay to your wards."

"That doesn't explain scarf you. That happened days, before you got…the…Dean seal of approval." Dean pondered. "I mean, it makes sort of sense for every other Doctor that has appeared so far, because you happen before any of them, so you have your…permission? Built in? or something? God, this makes my head hurt. Never mind."

Dean stalked off, opening the door of the TARDIS and stepping out, Marie following after at a more hurried pace. The Doctor shrugged. Well, Dean did have a point. The explanation certainly did do nothing to explain that previous regenerations ability to get in to the bunker. Then again, that version of him always seemed to get into more places he shouldn't have simply by accident so…maybe it was just another anomaly? The Time Lord shrugged and figured it didn't really matter before he followed the other two out and into the bunker. Time for a look around, he supposed.


	10. Grace, Soul and Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for a war council with the Winchesters, Castiel and his brother Gabriel, in addition to the Tenth Doctor and the King of Hell. What are the Weeping Angels up to...and is somebody behind it all?
> 
> Meantime, Castiel communes with the TARDIS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So…I made a realization of a critical error during my re-read before I wrote chapter 10 and I am so sorry everyone, so, so sorry that I messed this up.
> 
> I have gone back and fixed several parts in chapter 3 and two VERY minor mentions in chapters 2 and 8. The fixes should make almost no difference to the story but it will no longer be glaringly obvious that I, for some reason, thought Lebanon was actually Lawrence instead of 2 places over 3 hours apart.
> 
> My apologies. So....this story is flying along. I've got a bunch of headcanons that I'm working into the story, but I don't know yet if they will be fully explained or not. If i don't ever fully explain i may put them in the notes at the end. But I hint at the first one in this chapter. Broadly hint. I'm sure you'll find it.
> 
>  
> 
> _Edit - 4/8 - Thought it would be interesting to show the current time line of events up till this chapter._

Dean exited the TARDIS first, still not believing he'd be in the kitchen of the bunker until he stepped through the doors. He took a total of five steps when he realized it. Freezing, Dean whirled around to face the Doctor as he stepped out of the blue box last. "Wait, where the hell is my car? I swear to God if you left it behi-" 

"Oi! What do you take me fore? It's in the garage of course, where else would I drop it off...? Use your brains Deano. I know you have 'em." The blue suited alien shrugged past him and started wandering about, exploring. Marie had exited just after Dean had and come to a stop, wringing her hands. As the Doctor left, and Dean stopped panicking about the Impala, he heard her whimper. He looked over at her and saw the young woman starting to lose it, her eyes wide and unseeing.

"This is…unreal. This can't be happening! I…I…" Dean darted over to her and tried to keep his voice low.

 "Shit, Kri – I mean, Marie, calm down." He winced. Wrong thing to say. "Shit, uh…Deep breaths. Breathe with me here, okay?" He grasped her shoulders and leaned down to peer into her face, trying to catch her gaze. "Focus on me. You're here, you're safe here. When this is all over, you can go back to your normal, apple pie life, I promise."

"I…I…I don’t like apple pie." She whispered, eyes finally finding his. Dean toned down his normal reaction to such blasphemous knowledge. It wouldn’t be helpful here.

"That's okay, something else normal that you like, well, we can replace it with that. Do you like another kind of pie?"

"Uh…yeah…" Still dazed, she breathed a little easier as she focused on something other than the weirdness of her day. "Yeah, I uh…pecan. I like pecan pie. Apples make me sick."

"Okay, I can work with that. Before this is all over, before you go home, I'll make you a pecan pie. How's that sound?" Dean heard the flap and flutter of wings but didn't look behind him. He hoped that Marie hadn't seen exactly how Cas, and he hoped Gabriel as well, had appeared into the room. He hoped she would just think she hadn't seen them walk in. It was one more weirdness. Could be the one thing that tipped her over the edge and back away from the calm she was, he hoped, starting to feel.

She took a deep breath, released it, another breath, her fingers stilling. She nodded. "Oh-Okay, okay yeah. Um, that, that sounds good." She smiled up at him. "Thanks, Dean."  
  
"This is all very touching but, I was under the impression we had a matter of some urgency to attend to?"

Dean closed his eyes in exasperation and dropped his hands from Marie's shoulders. Fucking Gabriel. Of course. "Dude, could you be any more insensitive?"

"Coming from the King of it? I don't think so."

"Gabriel." At the low rumble of his voice, Dean turned to see his husband giving Gabriel a disapproving look.

"Sorry bro." Gabriel shrugged, not seemingly concerned or in any way sincere. Dean's eye twitched but this was neither the time nor the place to get into it with an Archangel. There were, as said Archangel had pointed out, more important things to worry about. First and foremost was getting Marie settled somewhere in the bunker where she didn't have to deal with any of this shit.

"Whatever, Gabe, everyone can wait five minutes.  Is Crowley even here yet?"

"Bloody Hell!" Dean sniggered at the sound of an irate King of Hell. Dude must have found another one of the Devils Traps they'd laid out. He wondered which one it was this time. Gabriel turned slightly to look behind himself as Cas approached Dean and Marie.

"Well, he is now." Gabriel drawled. "I'm thinking this means we should get this show on the road."

"Dean asked for five minutes, Gabriel, I think you can give him that." Dean shot the dark haired angel a thankful look and received a loving one in return.

"All right, Marie, this is my husband, Castiel. That dick over there is his brother, Gabriel. Somewhere around here is my own brother Sam. Krissy – your Gram – might have mentioned him as well. Now this place is warded against all sorts of supernatural things so you'll be safe here. We've got extra rooms, so we'll set you up in one of them so you don't have to deal with this crap. But uh…I do warn you…you do not want to go wandering around. This place is…well there are places here that hold things that….could be dangerous if you touch them. And it's big, so you could get lost. We still haven't found everything here. I'll give you a short tour of what's safe, okay? So uh…this is, the kitchen, obviously. And uh, this room is safe… you should feel free to come in here whenever you get hungry."

Dean winced inwardly at the thought of _letting_ someone else rummage around in his kitchen. But he might not have a choice. If they all had to take off, he couldn't leave her in a room, starving and afraid to go anywhere. Shaking it off, he motioned for her to follow him and Castiel watched his husband lead the young woman out of the room for a brief tour.

The blue eyed angel smiled after his husband proudly. It was the kind of smile that only those who knew him well would really see or understand. He thought about how far Dean had come, the rough hunter who had believed for so long that he was worthless outside of his ability to kill monsters, to protect those he loved, finally starting to believe there was more to himself than that.  Dean was just _so_ much more, and Castiel could see it in every movement and word, every action, even if Dean did not. It was those little, unconscious moments like this one, when Dean was calming down the poor, young girl, that drove home just how good of a man he was, why his soul shone so bright. He was a very caring and giving person and it just made Castiel love him even more.

To be honest, Castiel had never stood a chance. In a way, Hester had been right, he'd been lost when he first laid a hand on Dean in Hell. But she had also been wrong, because it hadn't destroyed him. It had made him more alive than almost any other angel his Father had created. His life was so much brighter and fuller with the hunter in it. He understood himself so much better too. He may have made mistakes along the way, mistakes he may have wished never happened, but if never making those mistakes meant that he'd never be here with Dean, than he wouldn't have changed a damn thing.

"You got it bad, bro." Gabriel interrupted his thoughts and Castiel slid his eyes over to the Archangel, narrowing them at the same time. Gabriel threw his hands up in the air. "Not saying it’s a _bad_ thing! Honest! I just didn't think Deano there would ever, well, make an honest man outta ya."  He waggled his eyebrows at the darker haired angel.

"Gabriel."

"What? It's kinda refreshing to see the big bad hunter like this. You domesticated him, Cassie."

"I did no such thing. And I would appreciate if you didn't say things like that around him."

"Pfft." Gabriel waved his hand negligently. "Whatever. Let's go find the others. I wanna find out what in Dad's name is going on. I mean, I've got things to do. I'm a very busy Archangel these days."

"Really? I hadn't even heard you were back. So what _exactly_ are you busy with?"

"Oh, important…Archangel…things. Y'know how it is, right?" From the way Gabriel avoided his eyes, Castiel found that hard to believe. "Soooo…..I think we should go find the Samsquatch and your other guests and wait for Deano's big news." The Archangel bounded off and Castiel rolled his eyes though no one was left to see it. It made him feel better as a different kind of smile, a content one, tugged at the corner of his lips.

The angel made to follow his brother, probably just into the map room if he had to guess, when something about the TARDIS caught his attention. He had told the boys he knew what the Doctor was, and where he'd come from and all that, but the TARDIS was something else entirely. He knew what they did, what the Time Lords had created them for and how – it had been the talk of Heaven for a while, what the Galifreyans had done, the ambitious undertakings they had wrought - but he'd always believed it to be a mere machine. Yet he'd gotten a different vibe off it the brief few moments he'd been aboard the other day, but things had been happening too fast to get a good look at it when he had the chance. Now he had another.

He looked at the innocuous blue box, glanced back at the kitchen door and back to the box. Dean would be a few minutes, and the TARDIS door was still open. It couldn't hurt to look for just a moment, to see if he could understand the nagging feeling he was getting.

"Well, of course I did. All TARDIS's are. But this one…she's special." The Doctor slid a hand down along the inside of the doorway. "I stole her you know, but to be honest, in the end, I think it was her that stole me." The Doctor had a faraway look in his ancient eyes, though they weren't as old as Castiel's. After a moment of mutual silence, he turned his attention back to the angel. "Some races think Time Lords are Gods. I think some Time Lords thought so too. We're not, as you know. But of all the things they've created…"

The Doctor patted the TARDIS as he continued to speak. "They, _she_ , is the most amazing. I think the Time Lords of old were trying to create their own Celestials. Maybe it was something they shouldn't have been meddling with. I just don't know. But she has been my one, constant companion in my over 900 years of life, and I couldn't imagine a second of it without her, even if looking upon her core could kill any of my other companions, has killed me."

Castiel showed his surprise, and then realization dawned. "Ah. Your regeneration allowed you to live? If you knew it would kill you, why did you look upon her Light?"

"I didn't. Time Lords _know_ better. Another did, to save me from certain death at the hands of an implacable enemy. She was burning up from the inside with the power she'd seen. So I took it from her. I have never looked _directly_ at the heart of the TARDIS. It's too dangerous to risk. But I admit, it's not death for everyone. For some, its new life. But it is a death to their old life. So in a way…" he trailed off, lost in memories. A rap on the outside of the box, from behind the Doctor, drew their attention away from the center of the room. Castiel joined the Doctor at the door and peered out as the Doctor stepped outside. Gabriel stood there, with an unexpectedly serious look on his face.

"Leave the poor girl alone. We're waiting on you two to get our party started."

"My apologies." Castiel murmured, and flapped himself to the other room and settled himself in next to Dean, taking his hand when Dean looked up and noticed him there, smiling wide and happy. As Castiel had surmised, they were ranged around the map table. Sam was on the side with Dean and Castiel. Crowley was at the corner of the other side, two more empty chairs waiting for Gabriel and the Doctor to arrive, which they did in short order, taking their seats.

"Okay, we're all here. Now spill." Gabriel ordered, taking sweets out of his pockets and dumping them on the table, picking through for a giant chocolate bar and unwrapping it. Dean nodded.

"Right, right. Well, so far, this is just a theory, but from the bits and pieces I've picked up…I'm afraid it makes all too much sense."

"Just get on with it, Squirrel. No beating around the bloody bush." Crowley grumped. Dean glared.

"A few days ago, Cas and I ran into a being called a Weeping Angel out at Stull. The Doctor here believed it had been attracted by the residual energies left over by the Archangel Showdown that sorta almost happened out there. And of course, the Pit that opened to the Cage where we shoved those same Archangels inside of. It's become a possible weak spot in the fabric of our reality that the right people or creatures might be able to take advantage of to reach the Cage.  A Weeping Angel, Crowley, is exactly what it sounds like. Angel statuary that look like they're weeping because their faces are hidden by their hands."

"Bloody hell. You mean those are real creatures banging on the door of the devils cage? Bloody Hell! Hell's been infiltrated by _aliens_?"

Crowley's voice rose at the end of the sentence.

"It looks that way."

"What can you tell us about these Weeping Angels?" Sam asked.

"More than my previous regeneration could have told you. They're a race of assassins. But instead of killing you, they take your life's potential and drop you backwards in history. I discussed with Dean that it's likely this gift that is causing your Demons to disappear – but instead of being transplanted in time, they're probably being disintegrated outright."

"Because they're already dead, right?" Gabriel offered. The Doctor nodded.

"Those creatures probably got down into..." The Time Lord hesitated, "into Hell through Stull, attracted by the left over energies from everything that happened there and finding a weakness to exploit, allowing them to find a way in, a way to the Celestiels that are trapped further in. If no one is looking at them, they can move fast. Really fast. Do not blink. Do not allow yourself to be in darkness around them. If you stare at them, they won't move. But if you look away, then they're right behind you. And one touch, just one, is all it takes. I found that out through first hand experience, just so you know."

"How did you defeat them?"

"I didn't. I negated them. Through the help of someone in the future to me at the time, I was able to trick and trap them. They wanted my TARDIS because of the energy within her. They attacked her, trying to get inside. And when she disappeared from the circle of Weeping Angels, they were caught with their hands down. They were stuck like that, staring at each other, unable to move. Quantum Locked. Like that, they're harmless. But that's not a trick that can work every time."

"What would happen if they got the energy of an Archangel? Of two Archangels?" Sam asked the question everyone else was thinking.

"Probably nothing good. It would be worse than if they had gotten their hands on the TARDIS and that was frightening enough to contemplate."

"I don't understand. I've been down there at least half a dozen times investigating the loss of my demons. How have I never been…disintegrated?"

"Were you ever alone?"

"Unfortunately, no. I needed lackeys to help me investigate."

"Then you probably just got lucky. Enough eyes down there and they wouldn't have been able to move at all. It's probably why Deano here had his brother call you back asap."

"Sounds like it was a good move. So how do we destroy these things?" Sam looked around at the small group gathered for their little war council.

"Well, that’s why I asked if Cas could get Gabriel here too. Cas smote one of the little fuckers at Stull. Why not just go down there with a couple of _real_ angels and smite the rest?"

"There could be too many to smite at once. They're…more powerful and dangerous in large groups."

"Okay, then what do you suggest we do?" Dean spat out. Castiel looked at his brother who was, strangely, quiet. He furrowed his brows and tilted his head. Between the two of them, especially with one of them being an Archangel, it shouldn't matter how large the group of Weeping Angels was, the smiting would be effective. A mass smiting even more so, if they could make sure no one else was around. Maybe that was the problem? Maybe Gabriel didn't believe that Sam and Dean wouldn't force their way along on the mission even if it endangered them all to do so? Gabriel sighed.

"Yes, Cassie, I know. But I'm concerned with why they're there."

"We know why they're there. They want the energies of an Archangel." Dean shot Gabriel a perplexed look that was shared by his brother.

"Yeah moron, I think we _all_ got that. But I meant the bigger why. How did they know to look there to begin with? They don't have a hive mind, so how did we get an influx of these creepy angel statues here on good old Earth, going after the second biggest source of power there is? One that’s' been locked away on another plane and should not be broadcasting a 'come and get me, all you can eat buffet' signal?"

"You think someone or something is behind this?" Sam ventured.

"I do."

"Well, if you're an all powerful being, then you should know this already." Crowley's snark was on at full blast.

"I may be a god, but I'm not Dad. The pagan gods of this planet are not on the same level as dear old Pops. They were created through human beliefs and gain their power through continued worship. Dad doesn’t need worship for that. Neither do we, for that matter. But I'm not an all knowing, omniscient being. Much as the brochure may say otherwise."

"Great, so we're back to square one." Dean muttered. Castiel ran a hand along his arm soothingly.

"Brother, could it not simply be coincidence? After all, who would even attempt to control beings that could wipe you out of existence simply by touching you?"

"That's a good point." Dean perked up. Maybe it was straightforward after all.

"I dunno…there are a number of beings out there that would enjoy having the Earth or even the Universe destroyed. Maybe it's not so much controlling as…whoever it was simply pointing them in the right direction and then sitting back to watch and laugh his ass off?" Sam ventured again. Something about what he said seemed to hit the Doctor whose face gaped in alarm and disbelief.

"No…no, no, nope. Not possible. I watched him die. The final death. It can't be him." The rest of the room turned to the Time Lord and stared. He shook his head. "It is in every way impossible. I saw him die. He refused to regenerate. He literally died in my arms. His body was destroyed. Not even a Time Lord can regenerate from _that_! He may have been crazy. He may have tried to end the Earth any number of times but it's not him. It _can't_ be him."

"Can't be _who_ , Doc?" A pained look spread over the Time Lords face at Dean's question. He spoke softly, the others straining to hear him.

"The Master."


	11. Planning Takes Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for a meeting of minds and plans to be made...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not happy with my graphic, but really happy with my chapter. Updates may take a little longer as we go along because I'm afraid of messing up!

Dean didn't like what he had just heard from the Doctor. Reluctantly, despite his claims and insistence that the Master couldn’t possibly be involved, the Doctor had filled them all in on the history of the renegade Time Lord. All the times that he had tried to destroy earth or enslave humanity. All the times he had attempted to take control of Gallifrey, among many other offenses, on so many different worlds.

 The man, well, alien anyway, sounded completely insane, and like his condition of insanity was only getting worse the more lives he lived. If he'd had Power behind the brain – and his brains had certainly been bad enough – Dean wouldn't hesitate to lump the Master in with the likes of Lucifer and Amara for pure destructive evilness, which doesn't even touch on others such as the Leviathans or Eve. And don't get him started on the fact that the alien called himself the Master. A shudder ran through Dean but he suppressed it. He did _not_ like the idea of calling this guy Master.

 There was silence as all digested the information that the Doctor had dumped on them after they'd twisted his arm. Finally, Crowley spoke. "The man is insane, but ya gotta admire his brilliance."

 "Fuck that." Dean snorted, unwilling to show that despicable he might be, his brain was definitely something intimidating. "Well, I for one don't care what the Doc said. I won't rest easy until either an angel or Chuck confirms he's as dead as the doctor insists that he is, _or_ I get to witness an angel smite his sorry ass with my own eyes."

 "Trust me. The Master won't be making an appearance here anytime soon." The Doctor was rolling his eyes at the others at the table.

" _Excuse me_ , but, how do you actually know that for certain? Sure, maybe you watched him die, but couldn't the Master we're dealing with right now – if that's who we actually _are_ dealing with – have been from a previous time in his own life line? I mean…you are time travelers after all, the both of you. And if it didn’t happen till now in your own time stream then…you wouldn't really have remembered it, would you?" It was Gabriel, surprisingly, that put forth this idea.  Sam was nodding along as if it all made sense and Dean, well, sense or not, it still made his head hurt.

 The Doctor made a face and did a weird little shrugging nod as if it say, with reluctance, 'okay, you may have a point, I'll give you that'. Then he jumped up and clapped his hands together,  with a boundless energy that made Dean feel exhausted just to watch, he spoke, all the while almost literally bouncing on his feet.

 "Well, until we have a plan to unmask our culprit, I say we take care of the Weeping Angels already in a place we really don’t want them to be. Besides, I've been down in a Satan's Pit before. I want to see what the fuss about this one is all about."

 "What on Earth are you talking about?" Dean muttered while frowning at Gabriel who was attempting to look innocent and nonchalant. Really, he was doing a good job at it too, unless you knew him well enough to be suspicious of something like that. Cas narrowed his own eyes at his brother.  Meanwhile, muttered or not, the Doctor still had heard Deans words and reacted to them, completely obliviously to Gabriel's odd behavior. Then again, the Doctor wasn't yet acquainted with Gabriel and had no reason to take the behavior at anything other than face value.

 "Wellll, it wasn't ex _act_ ly on Earth, now. As a matter of fact, it wasn't even remotely in this century. It was a scientific impossibility and you humans just had to explore." If Dean wasn't mistaken, the voice of the Doctor was…proud? It almost sounded as proud as when Cas talked about humanity.

 "Never mind that now…we need to exterminate a few ugly statues. Why are we wasting any bloody time _talking_ about this when we have enough god juice on our side right now to blast them into dust?" Crowley growled. The Doctor, well, Dean wanted to call it a flinch but it wasn't really that big of a motion. Maybe a twitch in his eye, or a facial tick. Something Crowley had said didn't agree with the Time Lord, but whatever it was, he made no issues about it.

"Right then. God juice. That would be you two, then, right?" The Doctor used both hands to point at each angel. "I get to watch two Celestials in action! This is going to be so much fun!" He grinned. Castiel tilted his head at the Doctor.

"I don't understand. You already saw me "in action" just yesterday." Dean snorted at the air quotes his husband threw in there. He'd tried to break him of the habit. He really had. But honestly, it was too adorable the way Cas still persisted. He may not do them as often, but that made each time just a bit more precious than the last. "What difference would it make to see two of us instead of one?"

 "I dunno. Let's find out." Dean and Sam traded looks with each other as the Doctor grinned in an almost maniacal way. The elder Winchester was sure they were both thinking it. Were all Time Lords insane or was it just this one and his rival?

 "Fine, if feathers one and two over there would like to get their butts over _here_ and join me in doing the honors…"

"Hey, a little more respect there, Crowley, or I'll tar and feather _you_ until your demons think you're another angel."

 "My demons wouldn't fall for something as amateurish as that, but you keep on trying." Crowley snarked back at Gabriel.

 "God, if all of you don't shut up and just work together, I just might _throw_ myself at the Weeping Angels so I can put myself out of your misery."

 "Please, Dean, I really don't think anything quite so drastic as that is called for, do you?" the husbands stared into each other's eyes, much to the eye rolling resignation of nearly everyone else there. With some effort, they broke their gaze, knowing that it was neither the time nor the place, and Cas strolled over to the demon and the archangel who were already waiting for him. Speaking in low tones as they discussed various ways into Hell and to the Cage, none of them noticed when Dean and Sam pulled the Doctor aside. Sam looked around carefully to make sure that Crowley wasn't listening in, too busy arguing with his brother's angel and the angels' brother.

 Sam leaned in close, keeping his voice as low as possible. "Look, we've worked with Crowley before and he's definitely the lesser of two evils, many of them actually. But he's still the king of hell, and I would advise you not to trust him further than you could throw him."

"In fact," Dean piped up, thrusting a small, brown, leather worked bag into the pocket of the blue suit the Time Lord was wearing. "Keep this on you at all times. Unlike angels, demons don't _need_ permission to take possession. And I don't think any of us want to imagine the damage Crowley and his merry band of demons could do with access to your TARDIS and the knowledge of the universe you hold in your head."

 "That's very kind of you gentleman, but I don’t think I'll be needing that. Time Lords aren't susceptible to being possessed by other species."

 "…but it can happen?"

"Well, it may have happened to some younger, inexperienced Time Lords in the past but…and it's not that I can't be possessed, but that demons can only possess human hosts."  The brothers shared a glance at the Doctors revelation.  Sam shifted as his brow furrowed in thought.

 "Well, no…that, that can't be right. I'm certain I remember…" a brow raised at them, regarding both Sam and Dean, waited for him to work out this answer. "Aha! I have twice witnessed a demon possessing an angel!" He called out triumphantly.

 "Was the angel in a human body at the time?"

 "Uh, yeah, actually, they were."

 "Then there you have it. The demon wasn't possessing the _angel_ per se, rather it was opening up a double occupancy and that's when, I'm assuming of course, as I don't have all that much experience with this variety of parasite just yet, it took all control?" at the nod from his audience he continued, "So, in conclusion, it wasn't controlling the angel at all. It was instead overpowering said angel who was probably already in a weakened state and therefore, taking over the body." Dean and Sam slowly nodded. That made a bit of sense. Then Dean tilted his head and made a weird face as he went to speak, paused then continued.

 "But wait, does that mean…a demon can or cannot possess monsters? You know, like Vampires or Werewolves or um…Kitsune?"

 "Well...honestly, it probably depends on the monster. But, really, boys, I have a question of my own." The Doctor looked over at the trio on the other end of the room. "What exactly are they discussing over there? They _do_ remember I can take us all anywhere we want to go in my TARDIS, right? I mean, every single one of you have actually been inside of it by now, haven't you?"

 "Which means we well know what it's capable of." Sam acknowledged. "Good point. I have no idea why they're discussing it then." Dean shook his head.

 "Yeah, but man, Hell isn't exactly on this plane. It isn't _actually_ in the bowels of the Earth, just as Heaven isn't _actually_ in the sky…those are just the main access points. Most of which have been closed off over time. I mean, you can travel anywhere in the galaxy – on this plane, right? And all throughout time…I'm guessin' that’s still on this plane, yeah?"

 "Aaaaaah….I see. Multi-planar layers of the Earth." The Doctor muses, grasping an elbow in one hand as the other reaches up to prop up his chin. "That would explain sooo much! It's a little like the unstable rift in Cardiff. I always thought it sat just a little too close to simply be another dimension, else wise I wouldn't have been able to use the energy there to power up the TARDIS." The Doctor continued on, mumbling about how the TARDIS had difficulties with staying powered up in other dimensions now that Gallifrey was on lock down – whatever that meant - but that this seemed more like a sideways slip than a full on jump into another dimension, and while he was certain that the TARDIS _could_ make the trip, he'd need a little more information.

 One second the Doctor was standing before them, talking a mile a minute, the next he'd left the brothers in a daze as he descended upon the small meeting of otherworldly beings on the other side of the room.  Shaking his head as he watched the group grow by yet another non human, Dean groused.

"Can our day get any weirder?"

"Hey, it could be worse." Sam said with a shrug, also watching the group. Crowley was frowning, the Doctor was gesticulating wildly, Castiel was stone faced and silent while Gabriel just…smirked at all of them, their words unheard from this side of the map room. Dean rounded on his younger brother, narrowing  a gaze at him.

 "How? How can it be worse?"  
  
"We could be on fire."  The answer was thrown out there as an afterthought, but then Sam's eyes widened and he turned to look at his fuming brother.

"Not okay, Sam."

"I know, Dean. I have no idea why I said that." Sam closed his eyes and ran a hand through his freakishly long hair. "I'm sorry, man. Really. Neither one of us needed to be reminded of any of that shit."  
  
"Whatever." Dean turned on his heel and stalked off into the kitchen, away from everyone else and into one of the three places in the Bunker that felt most like home to him, felt safe. He busied himself yet again with the makings of coffee. Lately, he was starting to feel that’s all he did, was make and drink coffee, but it was a calming routine to go through and it's not like he didn't enjoy the 'keep me awake' juice. Once everything was set up though, he was left with nothing much to do and he leaned over the counter on his hands, head bowed, just thinking.

 He didn't have much time to get lost in his thinking before he felt arms sliding around his waist to rest on his stomach, a warm body pressing against his back and a chin propping itself up on his shoulder. He breathed in deep and relaxed into Cas's embrace.  
  
"Are you okay, Dean?" Castiel's voice was a low rumble by his ear, soothing him.

 "Yeah, I'm just…." The words trailed off helplessly, the green eyed man unable to articulate what he was feeling. As usual, with Cas, he didn't need to.

 "It's okay to be overwhelmed, Dean. You've had your whole life view challenged, again. It's harder to adapt to things like that the older we get."  Dean leaned back a little, turning his head slightly, which had the effect of popping Cas's head up a little from his shoulder so he could look him in the eye with a raised eyebrow. He felt like that thing was getting quite the workout these days.

"We?"  
  
"Do you not remember my bender?"

 "Dude, who could forget _that_?"  Dean smiled a little at his husband and received a like one in return. They pressed their foreheads together despite the awkward angle, totally lost in each other and completely unaware when the coffee finished percolating.

 "So it looks like, whenever you're ready to go, we have a plan to put into action."

 "Oh yeah? What's the mighty plan that had the brains of an Archangel, a Seraph, a Time Lord and the King of Hell working overtime?"

"Everyone gets into the TARDIS and Gabriel flies it to the pit. You all stay inside, where you'll be protected when Gabriel and I do a mass smiting."

 "That's it? That's the big plan? Why use the TARDIS if you guys are doing the flying? Why even bring us along if we're not even getting out? Am I seriously just useless baggage on this trip?"  Dean's stomach sank and he turned in Cas's arms to wrap his own around the angel tightly, burying his face into his husbands neck.

  It had been a long time since Dean had felt so helpless and useless and he hated that feeling. He hated it every time he thought he was going to lose Sam, or every time he thought he was going to lose Cas, but most especially this last time, when Lucifer had taken Cas's body for himself. Because Dean had been more than useless, Dean had _caused_ it.

 That was one thing he'd never forgive himself for, even if Cas did.   _He_ had been the one that never properly told Castiel how much he really meant to Dean, allowing him to believe the worst that others had said because Dean never gave him cause to think otherwise. It had been Dean that that drove him away for oh so many reasons. Some he'd thought were good reasons at the time,  mixed along with the admittedly bad ones, but it had turned out to be _all_ bad…Dean tightened his hold on his husband, his throat tightening in tandem with his arms.  He'd been so fucking lucky that Castiel had managed to get through that, that they had both gotten through it, only to be where they were now, and he knew it. He was never taking his angel for granted again, but he didn’t want to simply sit on the sidelines and do nothing either.

 "Never useless, Dean." Castiel breathed into the dirty blonde hair. "You're there to watch our backs. If things go bad…"

 "Cas, I hate to break it to you, but I don't think there's a damn thing any of the rest of us can do if you and Gabe can't take on a collection of freaky time assassins."

 "What we're doing is dangerous, Dean. It could…rock the cage. We could be too focused on our battle that we wouldn't notice the danger at our backs. You'll have the TARDIS sensors trained on the Cage. Not on the Angels, promise me that!"  Dean felt Cas's grip tighten and he quickly answered.

 "Yeah, of course, Cas. We won't look at the statues, just the Cage. So basically, we're your alarm system?" the hunter felt the nod against his head as he relaxed. "Okay, I can do that. We can do that, I'm sure."  They stood there for another few moments.

 "You lovebirds might want to take that coffee to go, 'cause we're wasting daylight." The snark was followed up by the distinct sound of a candy wrapper. Dean and Cas started to pull away from each other as they heard the snark answered by more snark.

 "There is no sunlight in Hell. You'd think an Archangel would know something as simple as that."

 "It's called a fucking expression, Crowley, live with it."

 "Now boys, no need to fight. Let's all get aboard. Come on, quick as you can. Allonsy!" The five ofthem followed the Doctor into the blue police box, Dean pausing to put the coffee into several travel mugs so it wouldn't go to waste. He was the last to enter, just in time to hear Sam questioning Gabriel.

"What I don't understand is, why haven't we just told Chuck? I mean, he's back and everything right? So he should be a lot more hands on then he was before all this."

 "Sam, Sam, Sam." The Archangel shook his head sadly. "Free will, remember? Dad is very much a hands off kind of person unless he _knows_ that it's something we aren't capable of handling ourselves. He didn't interfere with the Apocalypse, because there was no need to.  Even if you had to sacrifice yourself to end it, you were still capable of ending it. Same with the Leviathans. All the tools were there, you had the capability and the choices before you. I say if Dad hasn't already stepped in, then he thinks he isn't actually needed."

 "That's a cop out." Dean pointed out, handing a travel mug to his brother and asking with a gesture of his hands if anyone else wanted one.

 "Sounds like the High Council of Gallifrey." The Doctor wasn't looking at them, but was instead poring over the controls and checking read outs. Occasionally he would input something as they looked on. Feeling their gazes upon him, he paused and looked up. "They have a policy of non interference. I uh…have sometimes gotten into trouble for not quite following this policy. But it's not like I go out looking for trouble…I'm just out exploring when trouble seems to find me."

 "Yeah, I believe that." Sam laughed and Dean snorted.

"So, you sayin' that your High Council of mucky mucks are rockin' the Prime Directive from Star Trek?" Dean said good naturedly. Sam started laughing and snorting himself, trying to smother it behind his hands.

 "God, Dean, and you call me a nerd." He barely made out between gasping breaths of laughter. Sam had to turn and lean on one of the padded rails around the center console. Dean rolled his eyes and caught Castiel looking at him proudly. He mouthed "What?" at the angel who just shook his head with a small smile and grabbed Deans hand with his own, giving it a tight squeeze before relaxing into a comfortable grip.

 "Oi, feathers! Come on over here!" Cas started to move before he realized that the Doctor was looking straight at Gabriel.  He relaxed back into Dean as the archangel went over to the Doctor and the two of them started to confer over the console. Every now and then, Gabriel would look up at the column of light in the center and smile.

 Sam finally got himself back under control and was now having to deal with Crowley, who was complaining that the place looked like _such a dump_ compared to the last time he'd been inside. Not that it had been impressive before, he hastened to say. Though everyone paying attention could see that it was clearly a lie. Crowley still wanted the TARDIS, and he wanted it bad. He was probably just getting ideas on how to renovate it now.

 "Hey Cas, why is Gabe acting like that?" Dean pulled the blue eyed angels attention away from Sam and Crowley and back towards his own brother. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary and he frowned back over at Dean.

 "How do you mean?"

 "Like, I mean, he looks like he's gonna start petting the column any minute now."

 "Oh." Castiel nodded in realization. "That’s because he probably wants to."

 "Okay…" Dean said slowly, drawing the word out as he stared at his husband. "And this is normal behavior how?" Cas smiled at Dean and squeezed their hands together again.

 "It's a sign of affection."

 "Yeah, okay, but why???" There was a plaintive note in his voice now and it was all Castiel could do not to break into a wide grin.

 "Because the TARDIS is very like a fledgling angel. Remember, she's alive. She has a will of her own. The Doctor has mentioned these things."

 "Like, alive alive?" Dean gaped at him. "He sure as hell didn't mention anything like that! I mean, he called this thing a her, sure, but…I call my Baby a her too."

 "You do treat your car similarly…but in this case…" He trailed off, just gesturing towards the light. "Do you want to say hello?"

 "Um…how would I…?" Dean fidgeted uncertainly. His husband pulled him closer to the console and raised the hands they were holding to the column. He place their hands there and encouraged Dean to flatten out his palm against the surprisingly warm column, despite the cool, greenish light emanating from it. "Um…Hello?"  The light seemed to pulse under him and he almost jerked away in surprise, whispering, "Whoa, this is just too weird." He swallowed and tried again. "Uh, so hi. My name's Dean. I guess it's…nice to meet you? Officially and all?" The light pulsed warmly under his hand again.

 "She likes you Dean." the Doctors voice rang out at his other shoulder. This time Dean did startle and jerk back.  "Not surprising really. Not many people really acknowledge my beautiful girl." The Doctor reached out for a brief stroke to the column before letting his own hand fall away and he beamed at them. "So, it looks like the angels won't have to do the flying after all. Gabriel and I worked out a way to enter the other planes coordinates into the TARDIS. It might get a little rocky so do try to hold on to something." The Doctor spun away and started flipping switches and, goddamit, was he kicking levers too? Gabriel was even getting into the swing of things, following behind the Doctor and seeming to know which things he needed to adjust to help out. The rest of them just stood there watching in shocked silence till the first shake had them grabbing for the nearest support.


	12. This Ain't Swan Song

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They've got a plan. Nothing could go wrong. Shit...well there goes that idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I knew this chapter was going to be hard to write _(And I hope it lives up to your expectations – pleeeeease, let me know what you think??? Thanks so much!!!)_ but I still had the idea that it would be the end of the story.
> 
> But then as I started writing down all the notes of things that I wanted to happen, I realized that I was wrong. There was no way all that could happen in this chapter. It would make it too big, too unwieldy. So I'm not sure how many more chapters we're going to get, but I think it's closing in on finishing…
> 
> Then again, I might surprise myself when I get to the 'end' so…don't hold me to that? But don't be surprised if I do manage to wrap everything up soon.

The landing was so unexpectedly violent that everyone hit the deck of the control room with a painful jolt. Even the angels had been hard pressed to stay on their feet and Sam, at least, wound up being flung back down the ramp until he hit the door with a thud. Dean might have followed him, but Castiel hit the floor in his attempt to mitigate Dean's fall. It was anyone's guess why Gabriel was down for the count. If anyone had a chance of not being tossed about, Dean would have put his money on the Archangel.

It seemed that not even the Doctor had expected that landing, as he was seen reaching up from under the console to pull himself to his feet. He straightened his suit jacket, brushed off both the jacket and the front of the pants and only  _then_  looked around the room.

"Whoops?" he tried to look repentant, but Dean was starting to learn some of his expressions, and the Doctor was anything but sorry. More like giddy, to be honest. Gabriel snickered from where was now perched, wrapped around the railing for the ramp. The TARDIS's glow seemed a tad dim to Dean. In fact, there seemed to be a slight red tint covering the control room. He turned to check on Sam and realized why. The lighting coming in through the windows on the doors was tinted red. Sam was obviously fine, as he picked himself up and went through a more brisk version of brushing off than the Doctor had done.

After everyone was done fussing over everyone – except for Crowley – making sure they were all right, they got down to business. Without preamble, Castiel and Gabriel headed for the door. They paused with Gabriel's hand poised to open it and they turned to look back.

"Now, remember the plan. Do not deviate from the plan. I'm looking at  _you_  Winchesters." Dean rolled his eyes and ignored Gabriel. He quickly stepped over to his husband and wrapped his arms around him, giving him a quick kiss, and then leaning their foreheads together.

"Be careful out there, okay?"

"Of course, Dean."

"No problem, Deano. Your concern is very touching. Overwhelming, in fact, but I'm afraid it's time to go." He pulled the door open and stepped out, reaching back in long enough to grab his brothers arm by the trench coat and yank him out the door, slamming it shut immediately after.

Dean heaved a huge breath then went back to stand by the Doctor as he fiddled with the controls near the only screen Dean could see. Sam and Crowley crowded around them.

"I don't like this." he muttered. Sam clapped a hand on his shoulder, a strong and reassuring presence behind him. The Doctor ignored them as the screen came to life. Crowley just growled with narrowed eyes.

"Nobody likes it, Squirrel. Get over it."

"What the hell are you still doing here anyway Crowley? I thought your part of the plan was to vacate the premises as soon as we got here to warn your demons to back off." Sam sniped. "Not like we'd be too upset if a bunch of demons were liquefied in the process."

"Already taken care of. And I'm not leaving this to you morons. Knowing you, you'll find some way to screw it all up."

"Shhh...quiet, the lot of you." The Doctor's raised voice startled them all into silence. "I swear, you bicker worse than the Cybermen and the Daleks when they're trying to prove their superiority over the other. Frankly, I find the Daleks more fearsome but, they both have their...oh what's this then?" The screen had settled on an iron cage suspended in the air by chains, the bars were so close that nothing could be seen inside, but there were – Dean shuddered - fingers poking through the bars. God damn Lucifer. If he never saw the devil again, it would be too soon.

  
  


"I hate this." he repeated. "Shouldn't they have been done by now?" It hadn't even been two minutes, he knew, but it seemed like longer. He started to panic. A mass smiting should be over and done with. If it wasn't then...what if something had happened to Cas? And, he supposed, Gabriel too. He reached for the screen, to pull it closer, looking for any clues of what could be happening but there was nothing. Maddeningly, nothing. The fingers poking through the cage bars seemed to twitch, but that was about it. Dean looked down at the controls.

"How do you change the view on this thing?" He reached blindly forward and Sam grabbed his hands.

"No, Dean. That was the one thing Gabriel was insistent upon. No cameras are to be trained on the Weeping Angels."

"That's a rather odd thing, did he say why?"

"No. Said he couldn't tell us why, just that it was very, very important for us not to."

"Well, then, how the hell are we going to know what's going on out there? They could be in trouble!" Dean started flailing his arms around in rhythm to his words. The Doctor tsked sympathetically at him even as Sam tried to talk Dean down.

"Dean, even if something has gone wrong, what could we do about it?" If Sam was trying to calm him, he was doing a piss poor job, Dean thought with a glare. Nope, now he felt even worse. Useless again. Yeah, Cas could hold his own against one of those angel abominations, sure, but who knew how many there were gathered around Lucifer's Cage! He turned back to the monitor and glared at it, as if it could give him answers. He frowned and everyone else followed his gaze as he leaned in closer to the monitor.

"Dude, what are you looking at?" Sam finally ventured to question.

"I'm not sure…is it just me or…are those fingers…not closer but…" Dean flailed around uselessly for words. Something about the fingers scratching around the edges of the bars was bothering him. Was he seeing more of them? Were they lengthening? Why was he seeing more? Was the cage weakening? The Doctor leaned in closer too, then glanced down and moved his hands around the console quickly.

"I do believe the cage is weakening. Your Lucifer fellow is…not exactly trying to push his way out so much as pushing power out of the cage? I'm not sure what he's doing, but there's definitely a wave of something emanating from his prison. And suffice it to say that I'm sure it's nothing good." He turned away from the monitor, his hands stilling. "I'd call your husband now. That may be what's taking so long. Good eye Dean! Absolutely brilliant catch!"

Dean quickly fumbled his phone up to send the pre-arranged signal. They'd been hunting for a long time and it hadn't been hard to clue Cas in to all the signals Dean and Sam were already working with once it became a regular thing. Sure, prayer was more quiet and quicker, but only Dean had the kind of instant connection with the angel that would work, and they wanted consistency. Plus, a prayer at the wrong moment could be distracting. Signals that were ingrained meant action without losing time to think.

Despite the idea that it might be a distraction, Dean still couldn't help sending out a prayer too, just to be safe. "Cas, Cas watch out for Lucifer! He's up to something. We can't figure out what it is from here. We don't think he's getting out but he's doing something that involves power. Enough power the Doc can measure it with the TARDIS. We figured that can't be good. Hell,  _anything_  he could be up to, couldn't be good, right? Please be safe, man…"

There was nothing more to do but wait. If Dean were the type to chew his fingernails, he'd be doing it. As it was, his eyes were glued to the monitor, a painful feeling in his chest. Normally, he didn't have to worry about his angel, but this fight was right up against the edge of the cage, and he well remembered the last time they'd gotten too close. They'd all been sucked in, like it was a great big, black hole.

A rustling sound beside him made him glance over at the doc for a second, and then doing a double take. Fully at his ease as he leaned back against the railing, a box of books at his side and a paperback in his hand, was the Doctor. Like the end of the world wasn't happening 100 feet or less away.

"Dude!" Dean couldn't manage any more words than that single, strangled sound. It did cause the other two to look up and over at the Doctor though.

"I know right? Total rubbish!" The Doctor flipped through the pages of the book and hit the end, tossing it negligently into the box. "I thought it would be a fun read but I can tell you, there is no restaurant at the end of the universe. I should know, I've been there. There were crazed carnivores and a massive rocket. Also, the Master was there, but he'd lost his memory. If only I'd known then what I know now…Ah well. But the first book in this series was pretty good. I don't know how Douglas did it, but the answer really is 42."

"I…what?" Dean looked on in confusion, blinking. "Why are we even talking about…about whatever the hell you're talking about? We have more important things to be worrying about!"

"It's a waiting game right now, yeah? I choose to not be idle. Idle hands are the devils work, isn't that what they say?"  The Doctor smirked at his own joke, but nobody else seemed to think it was funny and his smirk quickly turned into a pout.

"Wait, are those mine?" Sam was leaning down to look inside the box. The Doctor shuffled to the side and leaned down with him.

"Well, yeah, some of them. Hope you don't mind."

"When the hell did you get these?"

"I borrowed them."

"Yeah, but when?"

"Time Lord!" The Doctor grinned mischievously. Dean continued to splutter as he pointed at the monitor.

"More. Important. Things! What is wrong with you people?" Crowley snickered, but it was quickly cut off by the realization that something else was happening.

"Bloody Hell!"

"Now, now, doggie…no need for that kind of language." Everyone except the Doctor turned to stare in horror at the figure of Lucifer standing beside the console. "Did you miss me? I didn't miss you. I missed being out and about, but you? No…no, when I get out…I'm coming after all of you, and ending you the way I should have when I had the chance. So many opportunities I passed up to kill you all." He paused. "Except you. I don't think I know you." He stared at the Doctor who was completely unconcerned. Instead, he had something pointed at Lucifer and was listening to it whir.

"Hologram. Or well, equivalent thereof anyway. Nothing to worry about." He mentioned when the whirring ended.

The image of Lucifer strolled over to the Doctor in studied nonchalance and circled him, looking him up and down. An eyebrow cocked. He stepped back and turned to look at the rest of the room, taking in more than the people, and he whistled.

"Well, well, well. You're one of those upstarts, aren't you? I remember Gallifrey. Your people have come a long way since I last checked in on you. Doing well for yourselves are you?" He peered closer, as if looking into the Doctors mind. "Now, now, let me in…I'm not going to hurt you. There's no point to it. The Weeping Angels are going to do that for me." He grinned maliciously, and his grin turned quickly triumphant. "Gotcha!"

Lucifer's face registered some surprise, even almost respect, grudging as it was. "Oh ho, what is this? What have you done?" He whistled and turned disbelieving eyes on Dean and Sam. Deans' hands were clenched at his sides, his teeth gritted. This situation was intolerable. He couldn't leave the TARDIS, and he was stuck here listening to an illusion rant. He'd have knifed him if he could have, but even not illusioned, Dean had never really stood a chance like that.  Lucifer's voice turned cold.

"Do you know what he's done? How dare you, you little hypocrites!" He spat the words out, soft but no less vehement. "You sneer at the likes of Crowley, think yourself above demons, you fight against the things I _might_ have done, and you ally yourself with _him?"_ The devil jabbed his finger at the air towards the Time Lord almost violently. "He's killed more than I have ever even dreamed of." He turned back to the Doctor and asked curiously. "What's it like to be the last of your kind?"

Dean and Sam looked at the Doctor in a mixture of shock and sympathy to the differing bits of information that had just been revealed. They looked at each other in a silent exchange.

_::Do we believe him or not?::_

A shrug _::He's the father of lies…I say we don't.::_

_::There could be truth in it. The Doctor looks quite upset. ::_

_::We probably don't know the whole story. ::_

_::Agreed. ::_

"How do you know about Gallifrey? I thought you've been locked up since the beginning of Time?" The Doctors eyes were narrowed, his voice hard in a way the brothers had never heard before.

"Oh no, no, no," Lucifer scoffed at the Doctor. "Contrary to the popular belief of the ants on this planet, the universe is not centered around this insignificant dustbowl. Dad created it long after the rest of the universe for the sole purpose of my showdown with Michael. It was a battlefield, nothing more, nothing less. And the universe? Would not have been destroyed by the Apocalypse. A common misconception. Propaganda. Earth was simply collateral damage. Better here, than all of Dad's creation, don't you think? We were soldiers in a war. And you three – oh don't think I forgot your part in all that Crowley – and your pet angels and that Bobby Singer – you ended it prematurely. And Dad _let_ you." He snarled. "But I'm not bitter or anything."

"But how are you doing this?" Sam called out.

Lucifer had stopped wandering around and had seen fit to visually show himself perching on the railing, hands clasped between his knees. He lifted his shoulders up to his ears in a shrug with a sly grin. He waggled his fingers at Sam.

"Those things out there? They're energy siphons. Fascinating little things. Sent to break me out. They've been working on it for a while. Dad's cage is specifically tailored to me, so I can't overpower it myself. It's how that lowly seraph managed to break in back in the day. But they? They're not overpowering it, they're not breaking it. They're _eating_ it. Sadly, it doesn’t seem to digest very well. Most of them don't make it." Satan shook his head in mock sadness, a small pout on his lips that quickly turned up into another triumphant smile.

 "But they keep coming, and each one of them that eats a little bit more, means I can push myself out just that same little bit. And just you wait till I get out again. I'm going to end you all myself if you're still around. There's nothing holding me back anymore. No possible reasons I could want to keep you around except to torment you, and I could always do that while you were trapped in Hell."

Suddenly, the image of Lucifer wavered and he snarled. "I'm not done Gabriel!" the image flickered again and disappeared, leaving the TARDIS in silence.

"Well, that…that was pleasant." Dean bit off.

"You're telling me. I never want to see that smarmy git again."

"I hope his disappearing like that means that Gabriel got him back under lockdown." Sam ventured. They all turned to look back at the monitor, but could see nothing.

"You do realize that Lucifer pretty much confirmed that someone is behind all this. This isn't random chance they found their way down there. I mean, we suspected that much already but, now he's confirmed it. Thank god he likes tooting his own horn." Deans hands were finally unclenching but his gaze didn't leave the screen showing the cage.

"What does it matter? We're still no closer to knowing _who_ then we were before! Unless you think we can get the Father of Lies to monologue our way to an answer?" Crowley growled, an incredulous look on his face.

"But maybe that’s why Gabriel is taking so long. Has anyone ever tried to talk to a Weeping Angel before?" Sam looked at the other three then to the Doctor, the others gazes followed his. Before anyone else could say anything more, the TARDIS rocked.

"What the hell?" Dean shouted as he grabbed at a railing to keep himself upright. The Doctor looked stunned as yet another tremor shook the TARDIS. He made to go to the door before he remembered the admonishments of the angels and stopped himself. Instead he turned back to the console to try and get some readings, muttering to himself. Dean smirked. The Doctor didn’t appear to like inaction any more than he did. Or following someone else's rules and orders. Dean himself had ever really ever taken his Dads without question, even if he had doubts. Everyone else he argued with.

"Doctor, what's going on?"

"I'm not sure. There's an energy bombardment hitting the TARDIS hard."

"But we're safe in here, aren't we?" Crowley grabbed a railing. "Didn't you say her shields were impenetrable?"

"Oh sure, of course. Perfectly true. Except when it's not." The Doctor started frantically hitting buttons, slapping levers.

"What do you mean when it's not?"

"I mean, Deano, that Lucifer wasn't just projecting himself in here. He's altered the controls!"

"Shit! What does that mean?"

"It means we should probably get out of here!" The Doctor was yelling and racing around the console now.

"But Cas…!" Dean's panic returned.

"Can bloody well take care of himself. And if not, it's not like God won't bring him back, _again_! The ever proverbial thorn in my side!" Crowley shouted over the rising noise in and around the TARDIS. "No dilly dallying Doctor – you said we should leave, so let's bloody leave!"

"I'm trying!"

A screeching noise like the tearing of metal but worse sounded in the TARDIS as a bright light flashed and blinded them all. Alarms started ringing and Dean could hear the Doctor cursing. Well, he thought it was cursing anyway. It had the right inflections even if he couldn't understand the words.

"Something's breaking through!" He shouted between curses.

"Bloody Hell! And we all know what that is, boys. I'm out of here." Dean growled at Crowley's cowardice but honestly, could he have expected anything else? His vision started to return just in time to hear Sam yelling his name. He felt a touch on his arm and a jolting sensation ran through him. The rail under his hands disappeared and he fell to his knees. He blinked around at the odd white room and the sudden quietness except for a light hum, the stillness of no longer being under attack. He pushed up to his feet and looked around.

"Sam?" he turned the rest of the way around and his mouth dropped open in shock. He was no longer in the TARDIS - well he'd suspected that since the walls were different, but still - and Sam and the Doctor were gone. Instead, a tall man – taller than him, son of a bitch! - in earth tones and an insanely long, multi-colored scarf stood there. Dean remembered something his brother had said. No, it couldn't be…could it?

"Well, hello there. And who might you be?"


	13. Down the Rabbit Hole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctors sure love to hear themselves talk, don't they?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a lot of fun to write! A little confusing two with 2 different doctors in the same scene, but ultimately, tons of fun! 
> 
> And you can totally see why it was a bad idea to even consider putting any of this in the LAST chapter. that would have been one huge and clunky chapter!
> 
> Okay, it took me a few false starts today to get an image i wanted to work with, but I really really like it! What do you think? Please feel free to comment with your thoughts about the chapter, story or even the art! 
> 
> I guess also I should note again somewhere that nothing on that I've posted has been beta'd.

A tall man with wildly curly hair and a long brown coat and an insanely long, multi-colored scarf stood before Dean. Dean froze. His eyes narrowed. It couldn't be…could it? But this wasn't the TARDIS, so it couldn't be the Doctor. Then again…the Doctor looked different, maybe his time machine did too? He stared a little too long before he remembered he'd been asked a question.

"I'm Dean Winchester. You met my brother Sam a couple of days ago." There was no reaction. Maybe he had it wrong? But no, this guy fit Sammy's description to a T. And even though this place  _looked_  so different, it  _felt_  the same.

"That’s strange; I don't remember meeting a Sam. Or you, for that matter. But more importantly, how did you get in here?" Dean just stared at the Doctor in disbelief and slow realization. Maybe this was the first time he'd met a Winchester. Maybe a future version of this Doctor would now go seek out Sam because Dean said he'd met him. He refused to think about that sort of circular logic. A different thought crossed his mind instead and his eyes narrowed again as he growled,

"Hey! Wait a second, Doc, you said we only met twice!"

"Did I now? I wonder what on Galiffrey would have had me say that if it weren't true. I presume that you're so offended because it isn't true?" Dean nodded. "Well then. We've met more than once. It was probably old age. I wouldn't worry about it. And there you have it, problem solved."

"Wha -? We didn't solve anything! You lied!"

"That’s a harsh accusation from someone I don't even know. I probably just didn't remember. I hold the knowledge of the Universe in my head, you can't expect me to remember everything, can you? Then again, you're asking me to explain actions I haven't even done yet. You're a brash young man, prone to violence I would suspect, going by the myriad weapons secreted about your person..." The Doctor sniffed a little haughtily. "Probably wasn't worth my time to remember."

Dean huffed a little insulted and looked around again. "So why's this place look so different? Does it change when you change?"

"You know about that then?" This time the Doctor was surprised.

"Uh, yeah. Kinda do. Met four different you's already, though I only saw the inside of the TARDIS for two of you though. It looked pretty much the same, a little rattier, more steam-punky in one version versus the other I guess. This looks…cleaner. More open. Bright."

The curly haired Doctor looked around and nodded. "The control room of a Type 40 does often, but not always, change to reflect either the current state of mind of the individual bonded to it – in this case, her - or sometimes just the wants or needs of the same individual. They have also been known to tailor themselves to multiple individuals, but that's fairly rare."

"Huh…so, younger you was – is? - what, more full of hope then?" The Doctor looked at him sharply.

"What do you mean?"

"This room just feels so…uncomplicated, more innocent more…I really can't think of the words to describe it. Not saying the new you is...bad, or dark or anything but…I dunno. Never mind." Dean stepped forward and placed a hand on the glowing column. The colors were different now. More white then green. "So…she's the same, right? Even though she looks different?"

The light pulsed under his hand and he gave the column a pat before dropping it. The Time Lord watched in fascination as Dean interacted with his ship, one of the first to ever do so who wasn't a Time Lord themselves. His eyes were so wide they almost bugged.

"Fascinating. I haven't seen her react like that since…since Susan. It's very clear that she not only knows you, but approves of you. I'm holding judgment myself. I don't like guns.  Just who are you?"

"Already told you, Doc. I'd make jokes about your hearing going in your old age, but I'm pretty you’re your way younger than the other versions of you I have met. So, what, did you think I was lying?" Dean snorted. "Thanks a lot Doc…yeah, we've met, briefly. Look, this is all great and everything, but I'd like to get back home. I gotta assume I'm not in my own time anymore."

"Right, well judging from your clothes and your vernacular, I'd say…early 21st century? What year exactly?"

"2016. Oh!" Dean snapped his fingers and dug into his pocket, grabbing his phone and quickly turning it on. Opening the camera app, he aimed it straight at the Doctor and snapped a picture. "There. Trying to keep all the different you's straight has been ridiculous. You keep coming out of order. Kinda rapid fire too. Anyway, now I can ask Sam if you're the one he met or not." He paused. "Well, when I get home, anyway."

The hunter looked back up to notice the Doctor was frowning at the console. He moved a few steps this way, and then a few back the other way, fiddling with dials and switches, always seemingly at random. His frown deepened.

"What's wrong, Doc? Tell me you can get me home??"

"Normally, I'd say yes. But something seems to have put the TARDIS out of commission." He turned to face a wall, and a door Dean hadn't seen before, and hollered out. "K9!"

"Coming Master."

Dean blinked as a small, metal dog rolled in a few minutes after its tinny voice had called back.

"All right, K9, it's diagnostic time, let's hook you up and find out what's happening, shall we?"

"Of course, Master." Dean watched as the Doctor opened up a panel under the console and pulled out wire after wire, then opening a panel on the side of the robot dog and hooking things together. He tried to be patient, but all he could think about was what was going on back in his own time. And why this had happened. It seemed to be the power of a Weeping Angel, but how? And had he been the only one, or had it gotten the others too? He debated praying for Cas, but…if he'd been knocked back who knew how many years, his husband wouldn't even have a vessel yet and…well, how many years  _had_  he been knocked back? Maybe it wasn't so bad?

"Hey Doc, what year is it?"

"1968, England if you're wondering."

"Shit, I haven't even been born yet." Dean started pacing, running his hands through his hair.

"Could you tell me how you even got here?"

"I'm not sure I can, or should…it's your future, right?"

"Well, what can you tell me?"

"Uh, well, I was with you and my brother and Crowley in the TARDIS. Something happened and Crowley split, well, demons can do shit like that. And right after that, I was shunted in here. Something must have got inside…" Dean was trying to be as vague as possible about what he suspected to have happened. "We were waiting for Cas and Gabriel to finish up outside. Shit…Cas can't even come find me. He has no idea where to start looking! And with the warding he gave me...sonuvabitch!"

The bushy haired Doctor looked up. "Are you all Time Travelers then?"

"Nah, just you. Cas and Gabe can do it if they need to, all that heavenly power and crap but they prefer not to meddle in time. Well, unless it's for a goddamn joke." Dean couldn't help but think of the Mystery Spot.

"Sore spot I take it?"

"You could say that."

"What else can you tell me?"

"Look man –" The Doctor raised an eyebrow at him and Dean growled, rolling his eyes as his patience wore thing, "You know what I mean. Anyway, I'm just, I'm not sure what all I can tell you without, you know…spoilers." Deans growl lost it's bite as he sighed.

"Dude, you gotta give me something to do…"

"Do you have a degree an advanced alien technology?"

"Well, sure thing Doc, I got one at Hunter University along with my GED…" Dean said sarcastically. "I can build EMF readers out of outdated walkmans…that’s about all I got." The Doctor stood there, appraising him.

"Good enough for me. Watch that dial." He pointed out a spot and Dean walked over to it.

"What am I watching for?"

"I don't know. You wanted something to do."

"Anyone ever tell you you're an ass?"

"Plenty. I don't think they used such colorful terminology though." He turned away from Deans glare and looked back at the little robot hooked up to the TARDIS. "K9, what have you found?"

"Inconclusive Master, I am receiving multiple signals from a single source."

"What source is that?"

"The TARDIS."

"Nonsense! That's impossible with the safeguards in place."

"It appears that the safeguards were taken down, Master, and there are now two Type 40 TARDIS with matching energy spectrums currently existing in the same space time."

"Taken down? Taken down by whom?"

"Inconclusive data, Master."

"Make an educated guess."

"I require more data, Master."

"Could it have been an accident?" Dean ventured, confused by the conversation but putting in his two cents anyway of the parts he did understand. The Doctor shook his head.

"No, it would have had to be deliberate. This is quite impossible!" Far from looking angry, he looked intrigued. Dean would never understand the Time Lord.

"So uh…what are you doing in Hell?"

"Hell? What are you talking about? All joking aside, I'd hardly call England in 1968 Hell. Now, you want to know what places I would actually call – " Dean shook his head.

"No no, I mean, that’s where we were, when I was in the future TARDIS with the future you. We were trying to leave and you, the other you, was just saying something about the controls having been messed with. Next thing I knew, I was here. And now your robot dog is saying that there's two of your blue boxes in the same place. Which, really, doesn’t make any sense to me, cause, wouldn't I see my brother if we were occupying the same spot? Wouldn't one of us explode or something? But anyway, we couldn't leave Hell, so that means _you_ must be there as well."

"Well, let's find out!" The Doctor bounded across the room, snagging a hat from a coat rack in the corner and flinging the door open before Dean could process his intentions. His eyes widened and he whirled about to chase him.

"NO! Do not go out there doc! I know you said you can't be possessed by demons, but shit, its 1968…bad things are going down in hell right now. Fuck!" he yelled as he watched the Doctor run out the door. Fuck, fuck, fuck! Dean chased after him, shoving out the door only to slam into the Doctors back. They teetered.

"Well, we certainly are not in Geneva anymore. So this is Hell?" The Doctor made to move and Dean grabbed his arm.

"Seriously, Doc, you don't want to go out there. Hell hasn't undergone its' regime change yet. I can finagle my way out of the clutches of the current powers, but now? Now is dangerous for both of us. Look, Azazel is still in charge, with his big plan to break Lucifer out using my family to do it, and Alistair is still his chief torturer and that is someone you do not want to meet. Trust me, I know from personal experience."Dean suppressed a shudder and locked down the memories. 

The Doctor paused as he listened to Dean's earnest and frantic explanation, his plea to return to the TARDIS. A shout drew their attention to a figure that had frozen in surprise upon seeing them. Without thinking, Dean pulled his gun out and shoved the Doctor out of the way, shooting the demon before it could raise any kind of an alarm.

"How many times do I have to tell you, violence – particularly guns – isn't the answer!"  The Doctor shouted.

"Since it’s the first time you've ever said that to me, I'd say not enough times to warrant that level of irritation in your voice."

"Ah, must have been someone else then, but my point still stands!" The Doctor leaned close, waggling a finger in a no, no gesture in front of Dean's eyes.

"For god's sake, he's not even dead! A gun –" Dean waggled it in front of his chest a bit, still mindful not to point it anything he'd worry about shooting, a note of exasperation in his voice, " - cannot kill a demon. All I've really done is piss it off by temporarily stopping it in its tracks. Look at him – he's still standing! Know anything that can get shot like that and not even notice? Now get your ass back into your stupid box!" Dean started shoving the taller man. He was sure the Doctor could have resisted but had decided to humor the mad man with the gun.

"How dare you insult the TARDIS! Anyway, I thought you liked her?"

"Her, yes. Sure. But this whole, the outer shell, is stupid. What kind of a look is it for something as cool as this anyway?"

"I like it, its distinctive and unique. And I always remember where I parked."

"Yeah, well if you want to avoid violence, distinctive is not a good idea right now. As soon as the demons figure out you're not some weird set dressing – and that is only going to be as long as it takes for someone else to randomly come down here and LOOK at you – you're going to have demons by the score swarming all over this thing trying to get in, and if I understood things correctly, your TARDIS is slightly vulnerable right now. So maybe we should get back to work on trying to figure out how to get the HELL out of HELL."

"That phrase seems rather redundant. Also, you are quite rude. And possibly right." Dean firmly shut the door behind him, rolling his eyes and tucking the gun away. The two of them made their way back to the center of the room, and the console and column that dominated it.  "K9, any progress?"

"Negative."

"You said there were multiple signals, can you show them to us."

"Affirmative." The robotic dog made some clicking and whirring noises, and static bloomed over their heads, a monitor showing odd waves. Dean wondered where the speakers were but figured, science fiction crap, they could be anything. Soon the static resolved into actual words. Wait a second, he recognized those voices!

"Sam?" he called out. There was no response. The voices continued undeterred, unaware they now had an audience. Dean looked at the Doctor, confused. The Doctor held a finger up to his mouth and tilted his head to listen.

" – don't understand why we can't just call him?"

"Sorry Sam, but the creature affects time, throwing the beings they touch far into the past. It really wasn't that long ago your people started using cell phones. He likely doesn’t have any service wherever he landed and I didn't think to alter his phone before we came out here. Speaking of, why don't the both of you give me your phones. I won't be making the same mistake again." There was a rustling sound and then the whirring Dean had heard on a few occasions now.

"Brilliant! Dean, if you would be so kind as to hand me your phone, I think we can make a connection!" The curly haired Doctors excited eyes fell on Dean as he held out his hand, fingers twitching in a universal 'give me' gesture. Doubtful, Dean pulled the device out of his pocket and handed it over, watching as the Doctor laid it out in the palm of his hand while pointing a little metal wand with a strange circle at the end of it straight at the phone. The sound it made was different then the other Doctors wand, and it looked much simpler too.

"What is that anyway?"

"It's a sonic screwdriver."

"Doesn't look much like a screwdriver." Dean said, eyeing the tip.

"That's all right. I never use it on screws anyway." The sound stopped and the Doctor handed him his phone back with a triumphant grin on his face. "Go ahead, try calling one of them." The hunter looked from him to his phone and back again dubiously, then shrugged. Seconds later, his phone was dialing.

"Dean?" the rumbling voice of his husband filled him with relief. He closed his eyes with a sigh and a smile.

"Hey Cas."

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah, safe and sound. You won't believe it though. Here, let me put you on speaker." Dean pulled the phone away from his ear to do just that, even though K9 was still broadcasting the voices from the other TARDIS. An echo was a small price to pay to allow Cas to hear their side of things. On the other end, Castiel was obviously doing the same thing.

"Hey Dean, where'd you end up? The Doctor was certain your phone wouldn't work. And you didn't answer when I tried to call you so I was afraid he was right." His brother wasted no time making use of the speaker phone on his end.

"Ha, well, about that, Sammy. Funny thing…I'm in 1968 right now. With the Doctor."

"But, that's…impossible. He's right here." Sam's voice sounded frazzled.

"Hullo!" the curly haired doctor called out.

"Oh! It _is_ me! I remember you. Is K9 there?"

"Affirmative."

"Oh, that's brilliant!" 

"Hey, so, could you guys tell me what happened? On my end Crowley booked it, there was a bright light and then just as my sight was recovering I thought I saw something and then…here I was."

"Well, my sight was in the process of recovering as well, but one of those statues managed to break inside the TARDIS, I still don't know how – "

"Lucifer."

"Huh?" Dean could almost see his brother turning puzzled eyes on Cas.

"I think your husband is right, Dean. Lucifer messed with the controls as you recall, rendering the TARDIS immovable, but then that Gabriel fellow pulled his attention back outside, so whatever else he'd planned to do to the controls was cut short. He then flooded one of the angels with raw power which it in turn used to break away from a fight it was losing by going towards a different potential energy source. Us."

"So the creepy angel statue forced its way into the…I thought your ship has shields?"

"It does." The answer was kind of spooky as it came simultaneously from three sources, due to the echo from K9.

"The strangest thing though, Dean, after it touched you it crumbled to dust."

Dean could hear both the irritation and relief in his brothers voice and was just grateful himself that the thing had expired before it could do more damage, and equally grateful that he hadn't had to breath in what was surely to have been an impressive cloud of dust.

"Well, that’s hardly normal. Is it?"

"I have a theory about that, actually. When it forced its way inside, it was left severely weakened. It went after you to recharge, only something went wrong. While its power still affected you, it seems that it continued to drain rather than recharge as it had meant to do."

"Okay, so when it drained itself, it crumbled. I can see that." Dean paused, "But why did it drain instead?"

"That I have not yet been able to ascertain."

"Let us confer, my good Doctor."

"Indeed, let's do exactly that." Said the other Doctor. For several minutes the two Doctors ran technical jargon back and forth with the occasional input from the robot.  Dean wanted to just talk to his husband or his brother, but there was only one interface set up and he didn't want to drown out the Doctors and cause any unnecessary delays. After quite a bit of talking – he was certain the Doctor, both versions, maybe all the versions he'd met so far, simply loved to hear themselves talk – they seemed to have finally agreed on something. Dean perked  back up.

"Do we have answers?"

"We do. It was difficult, with most of my sensors down at the moment, but we're pretty sure the TARDIS herself caused several things to happen. It seems, Dean, that you have established a link – if you will – with the TARDIS and when the creature got inside and went after you, she intervened. The TARDIS is capable of siphoning off energy from the strangest and most exotic of sources -"

"So she drained the creature to top off her reservoir. She couldn't stop you from being affected, but she _did_ nudge your trajectory. Which resulted in –"

"You landing in the TARDIS with me. I was all over England in the last decade or so on a fairly regular basis, so it was easy. What wasn't quite so easy –"

"Was getting both TARDIS's into the same place to line up for your landing. She actually blew out her own sensors as she reached out to commune with herself. It's generally frowned upon, time paradoxes and all that. She's suffering for that right now." Dean heard a patting sound and more rustling.

"Okay, so, when can I come home?"

"As soon as the Doctor can repair her sensors and whatever else was damaged. He can't fly if he doesn't know what will happen if he tries."

"Yeah, well, not sure we'll have much of an option. If sensors _and_ safeguards are down, I wouldn't be surprised if the shields are too, and we're right in the middle of Hell. The longer we stick around here, the less safe it will be for us."

"No worries, Dean. The Doctor is very smart, if I may say, and he has K9 to back him up. I'm sure you'll be back with us in no time!"

"I can't decide if it would be considered bragging since you're essentially talking about an earlier version of yourself." Dean shook his head. "Well, why can't you just come and get me?"

"Because I'm doing my own repairs at the moment. Your pal Lucifer really mucked things up a bit." Dean sighed and rubbed at his temples with both hands, head hanging slightly.

"Okay, okay fine." He paused again. "Hey, wait a second. Cas, why can't you just come get me since you know where I am now?"

"Hello Dean." The gravelly voice came softly from behind him and Dean whirled to see his very own, blue eyed angel staring up at him, relief and happiness evident on his face and matching Deans own.


	14. Dean And Cas's Adventures in Time and Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Figuring out whats wrong with the TARDIS's and how Dean wound up there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note - for last chapter, in case it wasn't clear. Dean knows it's useless to use guns against a demon...and a bullet would never 'hold' one off. But i had intended that he had a couple of bullets at least with the Devils Trap carved on them, just like they used with Henry in "As Time Goes By"
> 
> Also - as posted on [ Tumblr](http://dragonpressgraphics.tumblr.com/) _(which was carefully written so as not to post any spoilers):_  
>   
>  Why do I do this to myself? Before I started writing Colliding Worlds, I was smart enough to make the decision that while SuperWhoLock would be awesome, i didn’t have the brains to do justice to Sherlock. So instead its just SuperWho _(With no regrets - and it’s been a fun ride so far! Love how it’s coming)_
> 
> So being smart enough to make that decision….i find myself now questioning my lack of brains on my decision of who’s behind it all. Like, if i couldn’t do justice to Sherlock, how could i possibly do justice to this person?
> 
> what is WRONG with me?

**Chapter 14:**

The relief that Dean felt when he saw his husband standing before him was immeasurable. He hadn't really known what was going on outside the TARDIS, and everything had been taking way too long. While Cas should be able to take care of himself, he'd lost the angel one too many times to be so sanguine about the risks he was or wasn't taking. To that end, he wasted not one second before he absently dropped the phone and reached up to grip the angel tightly, his head tucked into Cas's neck, just breathing deep. Arms came up and wrapped around him just as tightly before loosening to rub soothingly at his back. Dean closed his eyes and just took in the moment.

The moment wasn't allowed to last long before all the occupants heard noise coming from outside the TARDIS. Dean heaved a sigh and raised his head to look over Castiel's shoulder at the closed door. The angels head turned to look as well. He leveled a narrow look at the door for several seconds before turning back to Dean and the Doctor.

"It appears that several demons have indeed located us. I _am_ somewhat surprised since even Azazel didn't know this place existed, even though it resides deep in Hell."

"Maybe they didn't know what was right in front of them?" Dean suggested. "I mean, this was before the seals were broken, before the Cage was cracked or damaged. I'd suppose there was some sort of concealment…I dunno, spell or something on it. I mean, God made it after all. I'm sure he'd have taken steps to make sure it wasn't found to begin with." Dean lingered in his husbands' arms, not yet ready to give up the comforting presence. "What I always found surprising was that, if Heaven had its own jail, why did he put the Cage of something so evil in the midst of the very people who would  _most_  want to release said evil? Wouldn't it have been safer in Heaven?"

"Why does it sound as if you people are  _not_  talking in metaphors?" Dean and Castiel finally, reluctantly stepped back from their embrace; though they continued to stand close enough for their shoulders to touch as they turned to face the tall, curly haired doctor head on.

"Because we are not. Hello again Doctor."

"Cas, you haven't met this Doctor yet." Castiel turned blue eyes on Dean and then back to the Time Lord standing before him and squinted.

"Ah yes, I see now. I'm sorry about that."

"Do I look that similar now to the me you know in the future?" The Doctor asked curiously. "No, don't describe me, I don't need to actually know what I might look like. I prefer to be surprised." He winked at them. Dean snorted.

"You look nothing like this. In fact, I've snapped a picture of about three of the four of you and none of you look a bit alike. Why do you ask?" The Doctor shrugged and went back to the console, trying to fix the burnt out sensors.

"I already got the impression that you know multiple me's, but as I've never met either one of you, I was wondering how you might have mixed me up with one of them."

"Oh, Cas was…he didn't exactly mix you up, I don't think." Dean shrugged and looked at Cas with a raised eyebrow. "Actually, we need to be careful what we say right? Cause he didn't know… _you_  know…about you when we met in the future." Dean waved a hand at his husband, glanced behind to make sure the Doctor wasn't looking and then used his hands to imitate wings. Cas tilted his head at him with a small smile before reaching out to take one of his hands and curl their fingers together.

"I believe you would be right Dean. Let us see if there's anything we can do to assist the young Doctor with his TARDIS repairs." Dean snorted again.

"Fat chance. I already offered. But go right ahead." They turned back to see the Doctor had paused in his attempts at making repairs and simply staring at them. Dean, out of habit, got defensive.

"What, let me guess, aliens are just as bigoted as some humans are about men being with other men?" A perplexed look came over the Time Lords face as Dean bit out his words.

"What? I have no preference on the matter either way myself, actually. I was just puzzling about your companion. It feels like I should almost know who he is though I'm certain we've never met. And I'm admittedly puzzled at his use of the word young in reference to myself. I'm not exactly young by human standards."

"Not everyone you meet on Earth is human or have you forgotten the demons right outside the door?"

"Quite right." The Doctor shrugged and went back to work. It was silent for a moment, even the thuds outside the doors had paused and Dean could hear a voice, small and persistent. He glanced around before he looked down and found his phone on the floor, still on, Sammy yelling. He had gotten used to the echo of the voices from the other TARDIS, but at some point K9 must have cut off the other feed, reducing the volume considerably and causing Dean to accidentally tune out his brother and the other Doctor in turn with his preoccupation with Cas.

"Whoops." He swooped down to pick up the phone and fumbled it up to his ear before remembering it was on speaker and didn't need to be held up that high. Instead, he laid it out flat on his palm between himself and Castiel. "Heya Sammy, sorry 'bout that."

"Dean! What's going on?"

"Not much more than what was going on five minutes ago. Relax, dude. Cas is here, the Doctor is working on repairs, we'll be home in a jiffy. How about you? Are you still making repairs on your end?"

"Well, the Doctor is. He's not letting me touch anything. But I think he he's almost done now that he doesn't have to contend with Lucifer. Gabe got him pinned back down."

"Speaking of which, what took you two so long out there? I was really getting worried." Dean looked up at his husband who shrugged a little sheepishly.

"It was Gabriel's idea. He had a thought that a mass smiting that close to the Cage might…damage it some. We were already worried about that, as you know. Also, he was hoping, since the angels can't harm us, that we could capture at least one of them and see what we could find out about who sent them there."

"So you were like, what, smiting them one by one?" A nod.

"Yes. There were more than we had anticipated but while it was still not all that many, Lucifer took advantage of our preoccupation to make his own contributions to the fight. I had no idea he could reach out from the Cage like that after Father fixed it."

"Well, the angels had been working on it. They were siphoning off the energy around the Cage. At least that's what he said." Sam's voice came over the speaker. "Oh, hey, we're moving! We're heading back to the bunker it looks like."   Castiel leaned in closer to the phone.

"Sam, wait, is Gabriel there? Did we capture anyone?" Dean looked up at his husband in concern.

"Right here, Cassie!" a jovial voice piped in. "Don't worry your cute little head about it. I'm taking our captive up to a secure cell in Heaven to see what I can find out. They don't actually talk, so we'll need to do some improvisation to get anything out of it, him…whatever. I'll talk to you kids later!"

Sam's voice returned to the phone and bid his brother and his brother in law goodnight. "We're back at the bunker now, so I'm going to go check on Marie. Stay safe you two." Dean pocketed the phone and turned back to look at Cas who was tilting his head at him quizzically.

"What's the matter Dean?"

"Well, just…why didn't you know that Gabriel had captured one of the angels? I mean, that’s what took so long, you said, right? And he was preoccupied with Lucifer. What actually happened?" Castiel fidgeted slightly and then sighed. He reached out to grab Dean's hand again.

"I'm…afraid that I bailed on Gabriel as soon as I realized where the rogue angel was headed. I arrived in time to see you disappear and the creature turn to dust. I was…a mite devastated."  Castiel's head was bowed downward; his low grumble came out so soft that the green eyed man had to strain to hear him. "It was, in the grand scheme of things, quite irresponsible of me and yet…" He lifted his eyes to stare at his husband, brilliant green eyes and vibrant blue colliding, emotions bubbling wetly to the surface. "I couldn't bear the thought that I'd lost you. Dean, you have warding that makes it impossible for me to follow you…I had no way of knowing…"

Castiel didn't often get outwardly emotional in quite this way and it hurt Dean to see it. He pulled his husband towards him by their joined hands, grabbing him in an embrace and rubbing soothingly at his back. They buried their faces in each other's necks, just breathing in each others familiar scents and taking comfort in them.

"Shhh….I know, Cas, I know." Dean hated showing his raw emotions, his vulnerabilities like this, but with Cas, _for_ Castiel, it was different. Still, his voice, barely a whisper itself, was choked with emotions, the same as the angels. The fear and grief of loss, the relief to be together again, their love for each other.

 "Aha! I've got the shields fixed." The Doctor noted just as the banging on the outside, which had resumed without their noticing, died away again. Dean and Castiel reluctantly pulled away from each other, each taking deep, calming breaths before turning back to the Doctor that they had almost forgotten about while lost in their own little bubble.

"That's great Doc! Now, while Cas here could easily zap him and myself outta here, I hope you can get your TARDIS moving first because I do  _not_  want to leave you down here as demon bait, shields or no shields. How long is it gonna take?"

"Well, that I'm not sure about. Technically we can fly out of here at any time we want but she burnt out her sensors and we'd have no idea where we'd be landing. Though, if you two were up for an adventure, that's usually half the fun. What do you say?"

"Sorry man, I just wanna get home. If I take off without my brother, he's gonna get worried about me, about _us_ , and I'm not going gallivanting around space without him."

"Dean…" the hunter turned to look at Castiel.

"Yeah, angel?"

"It couldn't hurt. I don't think there's anywhere I couldn't bring you back home from in the blink of an eye, even if we landed somewhere unexpected. It might be best just to get the Doctor out of here and then make sure he doesn't land anywhere bad for  _him_."

"Alright, I'm game. I should probably tell Sammy the game plan though, just in case."

"You know he won't even miss you, right? We're in a time machine! All of time and space – we can make sure to land at whatever moment you want, anyplace you desire!"

"God, you sound like an infomercial salesman." Dean quipped. "Let's just go. Roll the dice, spin the wheel of fortune…"

"Well, I generally like to stack the deck in my favor if we're going to be tempting fate but then again, what's the fun in that?" The Doctor grinned impishly and whirled about the console, pointing at various features.  "You! Grab that switch and the one next to it, flip them in opposite directions when I say! And you, turn that dial clockwise 3 times, then counterclockwise four and ½ more – on my mark?"

The Doctor waited to make sure they were ready, then nodded his head and all three of them fell into action around the console as it sprang to life. Immediately, the cylinder started to move in an up and down motion and the wheezing whine Dean had come to expect started up. The TARDIS shuddered to a stop and all sound ceased.

 "So where are we Doc?" The tall man shrugged.

"Who knows? The sensors are busted, remember? We should take a look and make sure nothing fishy is going on out there before I get in too deep on the repairs."

"Dude, do you even know what you're doing?" The Doctor turned and straightened himself to stand at his fullest height, looking affronted.

"How can you ask me something like that? I'm a Time Lord. I have more knowledge in my left pinky then the average human has – "

"Yeah yeah, lord it up, _Time Lord_ …I get it. You're smarter and more knowledgeable than me, but that does _not_ mean that – for all I know - you aren't of average intelligence for a Time Lord or that you know how to fix your own ship. I know plenty of people – smart or not - who can drive their own cars but don't even know how to change their oil or fix a flat." Dean raised an eyebrow challengingly at the Doctor. "So which are you then, hmm??" The Doctor spluttered.

"I'll have you know –" once again, he didn't get a chance to finish, this time with Castiel breaking in, hoping to stave off an argument.

" Do you have a manual? I'm fairly certain that if I could read up on your TARDIS, that I could help with the repairs." The Doctor huffed.

"I'm afraid not."

"Didn't come with one?"

"Oh it came with one. I disagreed with it so I threw it away."

"You…you threw it away?" Dean asked disbelievingly.

"I did. It was so offensive, I threw it into a Supernova."

"Dean, I'm sure it's fine. After all, you hardly need a manual to make repairs to the Impala."

"Yeah, but that's different Cas. I may love Baby, but even I know she's a simple machine compared to the TARDIS!" Dean waved his arms around to indicate the entire ship. "And, she's not even _alive_ like the TARDIS is!"

"I still want to know how you even know that?" The Doctor was looking at Dean impressed. "Most humans, not even other aliens, have ever realized that fact."

"Yeah, well, Cas told me." He hooked a thumb over his shoulder at his husband.

"All right then. But the question remains, how did _he_ know?"

"Trust me, Cas knows these things. Haven't you figured out just yet that he _isn't_ human? Or that he's waaaay older than you?"

"I might have suspected something like that, yes." The Doctor looked at the two of them, eyes focusing on the angel. "What are you? I thought I knew just about every race in the known universe. And quite a few in the unknown ones for that matter."

"I would tell you as it is no secret but…the future you didn't know and I'm unsure how wise it would be to let slip more than we already have."

"Ah…good reason." He paused, and then clapped his hands together, changing gears. "Well then, let's move on to other things. Let's see where we are!" He headed for a coat rack and grabbed a hat and coat, slipping it on and quickly opened a door. Dean slapped a hand over his face and groaned.

"Here we go again." Grabbing Cas's hand, the two of them followed the Doctor to the door of the TARDIS, stopping short just inside the door jamb, the two of them crowded close in together to peer out the door and around the Doctor who was simply standing with his hands in his pockets and looking out at the great expanse of space. Colors swirled, ribbons of magenta and teal against a black backdrop full of twinkling stars. Dean felt his breath catch.

"It's the Veil Nebula, discovered by your planet in 1784, located in the Cygnus Constellation, as it is called by your people."

"It's beautiful." Dean breathed. A hand reached out circle around his waist. If they weren't already pressed in close together, Dean would have used that as an excuse to lean in. "Did uh…who made this one, Cas?"

"Technically, the Universe did, Dean. The building blocks were put into place a long time ago, but this is the remnants of a supernova from over 8000 years ago."

"Oh, so that's pretty young in the grand scheme of things, right?" Cas nodded, their heads pressed together. "But uh, who created Cygnus to begin with?" Castiel looked down with a smile and a blush. Dean grinned. "I should have known." The two of them continued to gaze out at the Nebula, not even remembering that the Doctor was standing there as well, not seeing how he was looking at them thoughtfully. A puzzle for him to figure out.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason, the website (which I have courtesy of a friend) keeps blanking out in the middle of the night. I've fixed the rest of the images in THIS story (except for the timeline) as of May 4th, 4am...but there are a number of images in Scared to Act that are likely broken until the website comes back and that also means Don't Be Afraid to Dream (with over 60 pictures) is going to be completely image broken till it comes back. this is not normal behavior and i don't know whats going on!


	15. Chilling in the TARDIS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor is still trying to repair the TARDIS while Castiel and Dean go exploring. Wait, do you hear a bell?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've recently changed shifts at work - AND increased my work load, doing 10 hour days pretty much all week (so far, nothing less than 9 1/2) so its throwing off my sleep schedule COMPLETELY and I've been feeling completely useless for anything outside of work. 
> 
> Despite that, I've managed to write up nearly 7 pages for this chapter and just over 2 pages for my other story.
> 
> But I am worried about my productivity level. I hope my body adjusts soon, cause this is killing me.
> 
> In the meantime, if you're jonesing for anything to read, might I point out that I _do_ have 2 other Doctor Who crossover fics? Both of them are fairly short AND completed!
> 
> I also have one other (completed!) Supernatural (au) that's fairly long. They could all use some love and perhaps a few comments on what you thought? I could use some comments to boost me through the next few weeks. 
> 
> *gives you all puppy dog eyes. When that doesn't work, upgrades to Sam Winchesters puppy dog eyes*

"God, I'm so fucking bored." The hunter groused from his spot on the floor. "And would it kill you to invest in some chairs?"

"We are currently circling the Veil Nebula, in the Cygnus Constellation, far from the little solar system you call home, seeing sights few humans from your time ever get to see and you're _bored?_ Where is your sense of adventure?" The Doctors voice sounded affronted on behalf of all human kind. Dean's eyes narrowed.

"I left it back in the Milky Way." He snarked back. "Besides, we've been here for _hours._ There's only so long you can stare at something like that before you go cross eyed. Isn't there  _something_  you could have me doing?"

"Afraid not. K9, run the diagnostics again. See if that did the trick."

"Affirmative Master."

"That's it." Dean abruptly stood, dragging Cas's gaze to him. "There's more to this place than just this one room right? So I'm going exploring." The Doctor finally looked at him.

"Oh, I wouldn't really recommend that. You could actually get lost in here, you know. Unless I accompanied you of course, which, frankly, I really don't have the time for."

Dean snorted at the idea that a Time Lord didn't have the time. "Well, with Cas along for the ride, that's not really an issue anyway. And if you actually need us, we can be back in the blink of an eye – " He snapped his fingers for emphasis, "just call my phone."

The Doctor stared at the two of them, intense curiosity vibrating through his body. He turned to focus his gaze solely on the angel as he stepped up beside Dean, "What  _are_  you?"  
  
"As we said earlier, I – we – cannot tell you. But I can promise that we  _will_ , the second time that we meet." Dean raised an eyebrow and took his shoulder, pulling him slightly aside and talking as low as possible.

"Whoa, Cas, how can you possibly promise that? We don't know how many uh…lives he has between this and the one at Stull. Just because that's the second time  _we_  met him, doesn't mean it's his. Plus, I know already that he's lied at least once about how many times he's actually met me, us."

"Good point."

"Unless of course, you have some sort of feeling about this? I know you can't actually tell the future, but…"

"No, Dean, it's not that I cannot see the future, it's that the future is not fixed. I see too much, which requires me to filter most of it out."

"It's true that time can be rather fluid, but some things are always set in stone." The Doctor, apparently, could still hear every word and wasn't ashamed of the fact that he was overhearing what was very obviously, due to Deans own actions, supposed to be a private conversation. Dean glowered at him.

"Indeed." Castiel's gravelly voice intoned, "But the frequency of our meetings are not, even if some of the events we may or may not participate in could very well be." The Doctor shrugged as if to say " _You've got a point."_

Castiel followed Dean past the TARDIS console where the Doctor was once again engrossed in the readouts – what few he was getting anyway – K9 still plugged in underneath. He paused and took a closer look at the dormant column, gaze narrowing as he looked from the column to his husband and back again.

"Dean…I know what happened."

"Huh?" Dean paused with his foot in the doorway to the next room, confusion covering his face. "Wait, I thought we already went over this?"

"How you wound up here. How the Doctor can bring the TARDIS into the bunker past all the wards. I know you've never been very satisfied with his answers. I believe he was trying to find a way to uh…mollify you without providing spoilers, just as _we_ are doing _now_."

The Doctors head popped around the console to put the two of them back in view. Dean drifted back into the room. The only one ignoring it all was K9. The silence stretched.

"Well? Cas, don't hold out on me _now,_ man."

"I would very much like to know this myself. Neither of you should have been able to get past the TARDIS shields. In discussion with myself, I had come to the conclusion that the TARDIS allowed it to happen due to the originating circumstances, but if you know better, I'd certainly like to hear it."

"You might not see it Doctor, but the TARDIS has formed a bond with Dean. Not just the link you suggested earlier, but an honest, deep bond. It is not unlike the one you and I share," the angel addressed the hunter, "Not as profound, perhaps. Not the same…substance, if you will, but there all the same. She'll be able to hone in on you whenever she wants. It's how the wards let her in, the bond allows for it. The wards, being magical in nature, and attuned to the Men of Letters and their legacies, can _feel_ that bond."

The Doctor wandered closer to Dean, exchanging his own looks back and forth with the column, circling Dean and looking him up and down. The hunter crossed his arms over his chest uncomfortably, feeling like a piece of meat at the market.

"I don't know how I didn't see it before but now that I have, it's blindingly apparent."

"Agreed." Cas echoed the Doctors words sadly, as if he'd failed them by not seeing something as 'simple' as that.

"You're not omniscient Cas." Dean tried to reassure his husband.

"I know that, Dean. And of course, you of all people would know that better than anyone. Much as some of us like to think we are...well, we've all seen where that has brought us." A guilty expression passed over the angels face though he tried to hide it. Dean stepped away from the Doctor and to his husband, grasping his arms to reassure him.

"Stop that. Over and done with. Water under the bridge. You were doing what you thought was right. Sure, I wish you had  _listened_  to me, but nobody's perfect. Not even God, as we _both_ have all too much cause to know." Dean smirked at Castiel.

"But you still haven't explained  _how_  it happened." The Doctor complained, interrupting their small moment, unsure if he should or not. It was clear there was history there, a long, troubled history, parts of which were wrapped around whatever Castiel was, but he knew he'd get none of it if he asked now. Perhaps later.

"Probably the events just prior to Dean's arrival here." Cas stared at Dean thoughtfully, the words tossed the Doctors way almost negligently as he instead continued with the previous train of thought. "I think maybe I didn't see it before because it wasn't fully developed yet. I was only seeing one side of the bond until now."

"You're not jealous, Cas are you?" Dean smirked and the Doctor rolled his eyes unseen by the pair.

"Of course not. As I said, it's not the same sort of bond. Anyway she already has something much deeper with the Doctor." Castiel gestured at the tall man. "Your TARDIS, Doctor, voluntarily formed a bond with Dean. And despite her nature, the bond being timeless on _her_ part, it still hadn't existed for him until this point of his life."

Dean stopped and stared, eyes going wide as a thought occurred to him. _Wait a second_....he disappeared from the room, leaving the other two to trade confused looks with each other.  Several minutes later he returned.

"Are you sure it's not the same kind of bond? 'Cause I think I've been marked..." He fidgeted, rubbing his right hand over his left arm. "I mean, I'm not entirely sure, since it's not quite as distinctive a mark as the one your hand left burned into my shoulder when you pulled me outta hell some 40-ish years from now. Kinda miss that, y'know?  The mark I mean, of course, not Hell. But yeah, there's definitely something there that I don't remember being there before." His husbands' blue eyes narrowed and Dean grinned at him. "You wanna check for yourself, Mr. Jealousy?"

"I have told you already, Dean, I'm not jealous of my near kin. It's just not the same sort of bond." They waited in silence, eyebrows waggling above green eyes suggestively.

"You  _sure_  you don't wanna check? I could use a second opinion."

"Fine." He sighed and left the TARDIS control room with his husband, leaving a stunned Doctor in their wake, K9 oblivious as usual. The Time Lord's mouth gaped open, closed, then opened again. If there had been any observers, they'd have remarked how like a fish he was acting. One could also tell, with a single glance, that his mind was working feverishly, tearing at the puzzle of Castiel and, to a lesser extent, Dean.

He went over the snippets he'd heard, both intentional and unintentional. Heavenly powers. Constant references to Heaven and Hell. References also to the Biblical figures of Earth such as God, Lucifer and Gabriel. Mentions of angels. Different kinds, perhaps?

 Then there was the fact that they'd been  _in_  Hell. At least, according to the green eyed human, which was something he hadn't been able to verify with his own sensors. The literal and actual Hell described in all the Earth Religious Lore. Supposedly. And demons were real. Nor was Castiel human.

Castiel could…could what? Could Teleport? Could travel through time? See into people's essences? _And_ all the possible futures? The Doctor scoffed at that. Not even Time Lords saw  _every_ thing.  He continued on with his thoughts. Realizing that Castiel had recognized the TARDIS for what she was and saw a kinship between them. Between the  _TARDIS_  – who was much more than a machine – and  _him_.

The whispered conversation where the nonhuman of the pair had intimated that not only was he very old, but might have had a hand in the making of some of the very universe the Doctor traveled. All leading to one startling conclusion…

But no, it couldn't be. Celestials were a fairy tale, dangled before Time Lords and Galifreyans alike with stories of grandeur for which to strive for. And yet, what other explanation could there be?

The Doctor continued to stare at the closed door in awe and disbelief. Sure, anything was technically possible, however improbable – after all, wasn't nearly every aspect of the Time Lords themselves mere proof of that? And it had always held true that the simplest explanation was often the most likely, and he could certainly think of no other. Yet what was the likelihood?

"K9," he muttered, not taking his eyes off the door. "When they return, I want you to scan Castiel without letting him see that you are and store the data for me in the TARDIS databanks for later. Can you do that?"

"Affirmative, Master."

The Doctor watched and waited. Time passed at a fairly fast pace, enough for him to not notice the passage as he eventually turned back to the task at hand, quickly becoming absorbed  in the continuing TARDIS repairs. It wasn't until his two guests finally returned, somewhat disheveled, that he realized quite  _how_  long they'd been gone, having long since lost track. He'd simply assumed that they'd made good on Dean's threat to go exploring.

Looking at them now, he wasn't sure exactly how much exploring they'd actually done. He raised an eyebrow but refrained from commenting on their appearance and likely activities. As long as he didn't have to clean up any messes, he supposed he really didn't care what they got up to.

"How are the repairs going? Please, please,  _please_ , tell me they're finished?" were the first words out of Dean's mouth when they returned. The Doctor frowned.

"I thought you said you could leave at any time you wanted without my help, once you felt I was no longer in danger?"

"Dean didn't want to leave you possibly stranded here alone." Dean blushed and muttered, as if not wanting to draw attention to that fact.

"No one should be alone." The words went unheard by the Doctor but didn’t escape his husband who looked at him like he'd hung the moon, though of course, that was absolutely absurd. Castiel knew full well who actually hung the moon, but he wasn't thinking of that right now anyway.

"Oh, well, that’s very kind of him. I'd say unusually so, but I suppose that I don’t know him well enough to make that kind of call. Although, I have to admit, I do find your young man at ties excessively vulgar. Honestly, is that really so necessary?" Instinctively, the Doctor turned away from the subject of thanks so as not to make Dean more uncomfortable than he already was. But he appreciated the thought none the less and hoped the appreciation was realized.

"It's a part of his personality. I don't even really notice it anymore." Dean glared as Castiel looked at him fondly. Finally, he snorted and gave the blue eyed man a light punch in the arm.

"Assbutt." The hunter muttered. Castiel beamed at him. "Oh crap…you're rubbing off on me. Don't tell Sam I said that." The angel merely beamed brighter.

"There's still something I don't quite understand, which is…actually quite astonishing." The Doctor broke into the silence, changing topics again. "We've gone over the how, but no one has explained  _why_  the TARDIS created a bond with a human she didn't know."

"I'm sure it was the only way to save Dean. I am also certain it was her that drained the…creature…that attacked us after breaking into the TARDIS." The Doctor nodded in response.

"Yes, we had determined it was likely the TARDIS that drained your mystery creature. Buuuut….?"

"But Cas, he's right. Why me? The Doc, well the one from your future, our present, he could have come after me himself, right? Or you, if I managed to leave clues in the right place for you or my brother to find. So why did the TARDIS find it necessary to create the bond with _me_ to begin with? If she hadn't, it's not like I wouldn't have had options for rescue…"

Castiel shrugged. "For the answer to why, you'd have to ask her. And she doesn’t have the easiest time communicating like this. I can get impressions, feelings…but not her thoughts. Maybe my father could, or even Gabriel but I don't seem to be able to get any um, details from her. Maybe it's because you are already marked by one like her. Even if my mark is no longer visible to the naked eye, it is obvious to those who can see such things. Or maybe it's because you are the Righteous Man. Maybe she can sense that?? I don't…I just don't know Dean. I'm sorry, Doctor." He shrugged again, apologetically, while his husband patted his shoulder.

"It's okay, angel. I can live without knowing. Oh!" A look of mixed realization and chagrin crawled over his face and he turned quickly to face the column. "I'm so sorry! I should thank you." He reached over the console to place a hand on the dormant column. "Whatever your reasons, even if I don't understand – which, well, nothing new there-"

"Dean, you are not an idiot." Castiel hastened to reassure. Dean plowed on.

"-but I do, appreciate it I mean." The column pulsed with light and Dean grinned and patted it before dropping his hand again, the tall Doctor just staring in both awe and happiness. He was glad that someone besides himself included the TARDIS in the conversations. It'd been a long time since that had happened. His companions, as varied and as lovely as they were, for the most part didn't really understand how _alive_ she was.

"Dude, y'know, we're all focusing on the wrong stuff right now. I can't believe this place has got a pool! And I swear I heard church bells at some point." Dean clapped his hands together enthusiastically in his attempt to change the subject and get away from the sentimental looks he was currently on the receiving end of. It worked better than he imagined as the Doctor froze in the act of turning back to the repairs, the ones he thought he might have finally gotten squared away, and almost turned pale.

"That's odd. That's very odd. You heard church bells?" his voice lowered, muttering to himself, but not quietly enough to be missed. "Why would the Cloister Bell be ringing? Why would I not have heard it?" The Doctor turned into a flurry of activity, flipping switches and pulling levers. "K9, was that last correction successful?"

"Affirmative, Master."

"Good, repairs are complete gentlemen. Now, I want to run full scans – both interior and exterior – right away!"

"What's going on, Doc? You seem awfully worried."

"I don't have a church inside the TARDIS, young man. What I have is something called the Cloister Bell. It only rings out when there is something potentially catastrophic afoot. Not only am I _very_ concerned over the fact that it was ringing at all, but also because I didn’t hear it myself. I am thus endeavoring to discover the why of both questions."

"Maybe it wasn't meant for you."

"What? It's my TARDIS, of course it was meant for me." The Doctor scoffed.

"I'm gonna call Sam, see if they heard it on their end."

"Poppycock. If the bell was ringing, I should have heard it, and that is all there is to it." Dean looked up at the Doctor astonished, the hand reaching for the phone in his pocket frozen in mid motion. He looked from the Doctor to the angel and mouthed, _poppycock_? incredulously.

"Let it go." Was his only response from the blue eyed angel, voice soft and low. "Do you just want to call Sam, or would you rather I go check in on him?"

"Stay here for the moment. Let me call first. If we can't reach him, then…" Castiel nodded as Dean brought the phone up to his ear and waited. Just as he started to get worried, Sam answered the other end and he transferred it to speaker. The bell he had heard earlier in his quest to distract himself came over the phone, loud and clear.

"Dean! Dean I'm sorry – I can barely hear the phone over this bell. It won't stop and the Doctor won't explain what's going on. I think he's panicking!"

"Oy! I am not panicking! I'm currently running scans to determine the source of a potential catastrophe!" came the accented voice of the first doctor that the Winchesters had met.

"Sam, are you all right?"

"Yeah, man, we don't seem to be in any immediate danger, unless its bleeding from my ear drums…" Movement beside him made Dean realize the Doctor had come to stand alongside him, looking at the phone in concern.

"Perhaps the two of you should go…I'm all set here. Repairs are good and it's obvious I'm not a part of this story. I have no worries. I already know we get to meet again." The Doctor grinned, eyes twinkling. Dean nodded and turned to his husband.

"Sam, we're on our way."


	16. Return From the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why is the Cloister Bell ringing?   
> And how come the Doctor didn't seem to remember Dean and Cas from their jump into _his_ past.   
>  And just what exactly, is Chucks' involvement in all this?
> 
> Frankly, Dean just wants it to be all over so he could sleep for a week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hated the picture in the last chapter. while the hand itself was great, it was all the wrong proportions, so i'm taking it out. i don't know if i'll return to it or not. *sigh*
> 
> You might notice a chapter completion number. yup, one more to go. I wanna read it over again when i'm not so tired and make sure i'm happy with it before i post it though.

Quicker than the blink of an eye, Dean Winchester found himself standing beside his brother, clutching at his ears against how loud everything was. Sam was yelling at the Doctor to _"Turn it off for god's sake!"_ while the Doctor ran around in a frazzled state trying to read multiple screens and printouts at the same time, all while shouting back that there was " _No off switch for the Cloister Bell Sam!"_

Castiel strode forward amidst the noise that Sam and Dean were both desperately trying to block out. It was most definitely louder here than it had been with the other Doctor. Nor was this Doctor nearly as bothered physically by it as everyone else was. It was more that he was bothered more by what it meant. Narrowly avoiding the Doctors frantic movements, Cas stepped right up to the console and reached a hand to lay it gently on the column. It pulsed warmly and the Cloister Bell gentled.

"How did you do that?" The Doctor had frozen in place; thick rimmed glasses perched on his face, his expression an odd mesh of quizzical disbelief. Dean almost snorted at the idea of an alien needing glasses. Somehow, he figured, it had to be some sort of affectation, but for what purpose had no idea, nor the desire to actually find out.

"Yeah, how _did_ you do that? I mean, I know I was having a little trouble hearing him, but I think he said there was no off switch, Cas?" Sam ventured to lower his hands, Dean following suit, both slowly, hesitantly as if the volume could return at any moment. Who knew, maybe it would.

"If you listen carefully, you would notice that I did not actually turn anything off. I just asked the TARDIS if she would mind moderating the volume so as not to be quite as painful for mortal ears and render them nearly useless to respond to whatever threat she was warning against."

"Yeah, I don't even know why the bell is that loud. In all the times it has rung, it's made its presence known but not painfully so. This is all highly unusual."

"Perhaps the level of volume has something to do with a higher probability of a catastrophic event. Have you discovered the reason for the alarm, Doctor?" Dean and Sam looked at each other in alarm. If the volume was indicative of the depth of the oncoming disaster, then it had to be on par with the Apocalypse, or worse. Amara. Briefly, Dean wondered if it had anything to do with the Weeping Angels. Meanwhile, Sam was wondering if the bell rang any time the universe was in great danger or only if the Doctor was potentially involved in said danger. He wondered if that was a distinction he should bring up.

"Of course! Well maybe, or well, possibly, I suppose. Okay, not as such, yet, but I'm verging on a breakthrough!" They stared at him with narrowed eyes and varying degrees of their own disbelief.

"Unbelievable." Dean muttered. "Are we at least back the bunker?"

"Uh, actually, not really. At least, I don't think so. Actually, I'm fairly sure we're not."

"Stop waffling, Doc." Dean growled.

"Well, I mean that…maybe…the repairs weren't as finalized as I thought they were?"

"Then where are we?" Dean stalked over. Castiel looked from his husband to the Doctor and back again as the Doctor answered.

"Actually, I have no idea. Wherever we've landed, the sensors can't, well, make sense of any of it. I'm getting readings but, even I can't make heads or tails of it." The Doctor clapped his hands together and started bouncing towards the door. "Only one way to find out! Allonsy!"

"Oh Christ, not again! You have got to stop _doing_ that!" Dean reached out and grabbed the Doctors arm as the Time Lord started to step past the hunter. "Before you just rush out the door, let's stop and talk about it for a moment. Now, I _know_ I'm not one to talk about not just rushing in, but you! You're worse than me!"

Castiel's head was tilted to the side, his eyes closed. Suddenly his eyes flew open and he abruptly disappeared from his place by the console and reappeared right next to the door with a woosh of wings. Dean felt his hair ruffle a little as Castiel went past. With one hand on the handle he turned to face the other three.

"Hey! What was I just saying about rushing out?" Dean yelped. They had no idea what was on the other side, that damn bell warning of the end of the world was ringing, and here was his husband about to stride off into the unknown without him.

"I highly suggest you stay here while I confirm where we are. If it is as I suspect, you would…you are correct that it would not be wise for you to venture outside the protective shields of the TARDIS. She is currently acting as a buffer against that which mortals are not created to withstand."

"Cas? What are you talking about, man?"

"Heaven, Dean."

"But we've been _in_ Heaven before."

"No. Your souls have been in Heaven before. Your physical bodies may not enter without suffering…damage on a molecular level, of the kind that I'm not sure I'm equipped to repair."

"Do you mean like what I suffered during the trials?"  Sam called out from behind him. Dean muttered a curse at the idea.

"Very likely. Now, please stay here. I shall return." Opening the door very slightly, the angel slipped through, blocking out as much beyond the door as possible, allowing only a sliver of light to shine through. But where it shone, even that little bit was still too bright to bear looking at, and the brothers and even the Doctor found themselves turning aside and shielding their eyes.

"Heaven." The Doctor turned to the brothers after Castiel had gone and the door shut behind him.

"Yup." Dean didn't even look back at the Doctor, eyes glued to the door.

"Heaven?"

"Yes." Sam looked at both the Doctor and his brother sympathetically. The Doctor started pointing at the door energetically.

"Heaven???!!" Dean rolled his eyes but continued to watch the door as he exasperatedly responded.

"Ye-up. Heaven. _The_ Heaven. God, Angels, countless dead people existing as souls in eternal rest and promised reward. _That_ Heaven."

"Well, you could sound a little more excited about this. I mean, if Heaven is anything like Hell, then it's an extra planer dimension and the reason the TARDIS can't get any readings that make sense is because of its oblique relationship to the plane of Earth and the rest of the Universe at large. This is fascinating and I think one little peek can't really hurt."

The Doctor started to move and Dean shot his arm across the little ramp and clamped it down on the rail before turning his head to glare at the alien.

"Cas said no. So no. He knows what he's talking about. Heaven's kind of his home." The Doctor  and Dean glared at each other. "Anyway, we've been here before. It's not all it's cracked up to be."

"Yeah, it wasn't actually a pleasant experience to tell you the truth." Sam interjected. Before he could elaborate, there was a warning knock on the door and the three of them took the hint to look away before it opened to let in both Castiel and Gabriel. They closed the door quickly behind them.

"Hullo!" Gabriel called up from the bottom of the ramp. Dean groaned."Oh, don't sound so surly Deano! I come bearing good news." Gabriel snapped his fingers and the dull, but still present sound of the bell came to a complete stop.

"Hey, does anyone else notice that?"

"Notice what?" Dean answered Sam, eager to ignore the Archangel. The Doctor closed his eyes for a second and nodded to Sam.

"The Cloister Bell stopped." The Doctor turned back to face the console with some confusion. "But we haven't even done anything."

"Yeah, that's 'cause Daddy-o did." Gabriel smirked around a lollipop that had appeared out of thing air. That was one trick Dean wished he had and could definitely admire. "And yours truly of course." Gabriel buffed his nails on his jacket proudly.

"What. The. Fuck?" Dean shouted, making Sam jerk a little at the suddenness, though the crudeness he was well used to.

"Got a problem with that, Dean-o?" Castiel crossed over to Dean as the hunter pinched the bridge of his nose. The hunter stood with an arm on his hip, fists clenched and white knuckled and his head bowed, forehead creased. His voice came out low and a little grumbly.

"I swear to…to…to fucking Chuck! How _long_ did he sit on his goddamned ass and did _nothing_ when the world was falling apart and now, _now_ he interferes? I repeat. What. The. _Actual._ Fuck."

"I don’t know either Dean. I was unable to talk to…Chuck himself." Castiel paused on the name, still uncomfortable calling his father by anything other than God, despite said beings insistence that all his children do so. "I found Gabriel instead and he insisted he could explain all."

"And I can! Just sit right down kiddies! It's _story_ time!" Gabriel flopped down on one of the beat up, couch like seats, sprawling over it completely, with a complete disregard that anyone else might have wanted to sit there as well. Dean glared. "C'mon! Gather 'round, children. Yes, I'm including you Cassie."

This time, even Castiel glared at the Archangel as they all arranged themselves around him somehow. Dean and Cas sat on the edge of the platform, pressed against each other, Dean leaning back into this husband, one of the angels arms around his waist and Deans hand covering his.  Sam had climbed up to sit on the railing, tucking his long legs into the rungs underneath. The Doctor simply leaned against the console and was keeping the TARDIS company with his proximity to her core.

"Right. Where to start? Well, the Cloister Bell was ringing for two reasons. First, because the Universe - nay! The whole of creation! - was actually being threatened. Said threat was being sent at us via the statues, but in all actually was from somebody at least _one_ of us already knew, called the Master." The Doctor jerked upright and came away from the console,

"Whaa - ?? But he's dead!"

"Apparently not. And he's just as crazy as ever. If not more. So yeah, we were able to interrogate that Weeping Angel. No match for dad! Just plucked the info right out of its head. They're kinda psychic, actually. And while you all were gone, and we were confirming who had tipped the Weeps to the Cage, another incursion occurred. This time, Dad took care of it personally, since he wanted to reinforce the cage as well. After dealing with that, he backtracked to the culprit responsible for siccing 'em all on Hell to begin with and dealt with it in his own way."

"Is he, is he dead?" Sam tentatively asked.

"Nope. Apparently, killing off the Doctor's adversary would seriously fuck up some – to him – future events, certain which _have_ happen. Instead, dad just wiped the psychopaths brain of all knowledge of Heaven, Hell, Lucifer and the Cage and, for good measure, the Weeping Angels too. Pretty simple, right?"

"Your dad just dues ex machina'd a stupid Time Lord, when he couldn't even be bothered to show up for the frickin' **_Apocalypse???"_**

"Hey, so it took a while to get him to come out of the woodwork, but he's out now. Let's enjoy it while we can before he takes another self induced sabbatical."

"I admit, I'm conflicted about the fact that the Master is still alive. I'm also kind of disappointed that I wasn't able to match wits with him this time around. That solution was hardly satisfying. Safer, I suppose, considering who was involved but…" The Doctor trailed off with a forlorn, lonely sounding sigh.

"Moving on. Didn't you mention a second reason for the Cloister Bell to ring?"

"Indeed I did. You have good ears, Samsquatch." Gabriel waggled his eyebrows at Sam with a leer that caused Dean to roll his eyes as his brother blushed. Gabriel better not be putting the moves on his brother. Archangel or not, he'll break his friggin' fingers. "The second reason has to do with Heaven. I don't know how the TARDIS found itself there, but it wasn't a good idea for her to stay overly long, even with her kinship and her shields. She didn't belong there and staying would have damaged her. And leaving the safety of the TARDIS could have killed all of you."

"Kinship." The Doctor picked at the word. "Kinship. I'm remembering…this is not the first time I've actually heard one of you angels saying that in reference to my TARDIS. What are you talking about?"

"She's made of the same stuff as angels. Not as sophisticated, perhaps, but clearly like us. She and her kind are unique in this universe. Even dad has to applaud the ingenuity and creativity of you Time Lords for this feat of wonder. Though it could have gone bad, really easy, you did it. Nice job." Dean gaped in astonishment at the serious and even complimentary tone the Archangel delivered this speech in. Who knew he could be so gracious when he wanted to be?

"So as I'm sure you've all gathered already from all that, the first problem was solved by dad and the second, well Toto, we are not in Heaven anymore. We may, instead, be at a certain location in Kansas thanks to moi."

"Okay fine. I'll maybe send you and Chuck fruit baskets as a thank you, later. Much later. But now what I wanna know is," Dean was still pissy about God's sudden about face on interference and didn't want to to discuss it any further. Instead, he turned to the Doctor with a suspicious look on his face. "You had have to known all along, everything that already happened up to this point. Why the _fuck_ didn't you warn us before we skedaddled off to Hell?"

"Dean…" Castiel leaned his head forward to brush against his husbands and Dean turned slightly to acknowledge him, but kept going.

"No, Cas, I wanna know." He turned back to face the Time Lord fully, pulling out his phone and jabbing at it. "I mean, the other you knew, so _this_ you would have had to too." Dean waved his cell phone around, attempting to show off the picture of the other Doctor he had snapped, but he didn't allow it to stay still long enough for anyone to focus on it. "You know, scarf you. The unnecessarily tall version of you. Obscenely tall." Dean muttered that last.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Everything about our little jaunt to hell until just a short bit ago. You knew! All of it. Even if you didn’t understand it at the time, you knew and you would have, _should_ have, realized it when we started making plans! You _knew_ we went there and that it didn't go well. You _knew_ that we had contact with some called Lucifer and other 'angels'. That somehow, something on this 'mission' would send me back in time without the use of angel express."

Dean leaned forward, the glare on his face deepening. "You _knew_ about the TARDIS bonding to me! Hell, you discussed with yourself all about how it could have happened, but you already had that discussion, you already knew the answers! So how come you didn't say a god damn thing to warn us? And I swear to Chuck, if you say _'timey whimey, wibbly wobbly'_ , I will kick your ass. I will." Dean had dropped the phone and gave the Doctor a determined glare and threatening nod.

The Doctor froze in the act of raising his arm, the fist of it closed except for his index finger, angled as if to point at something. His mouth gaped. He started to lower his hand and close his mouth when instead he shouted "Ah ha!" jabbing almost violently forward with his finger. He leaned in real close to Dean. Dean jerked away to avoid being poked in the nose and instead hit Castiel's nose with his head in the process. Dean swore and rubbed at the back of his head.

"Fuck! Ow! Sorry, angel. Dammit doc! Personal space! What the fuck! Doesn't _anyone_ know what that _is_ anymore? Is this a non human thing or something? Though I don't mind with you, of course, Cas. You know that right?" His husband nodded with a small smile. Completely ignoring the comment and the questions, the Doctor barreled on.

"I didn't warn you because I couldn't. I remembered none of the events pertinent to our future meetings until the events in question had passed. Pure and simple."

"What? How could you forget something like that? Sounds rather selective to me."

"Well you see, Dean-o – "

"Stop calling me that. You're as bad as Gabe."

"Hey! I'm sitting right here!"

"I know. I don't care. Deal with it."

"Well, as I was about to say, it's not a good idea to cross your own time streams and well, meet yourself. Frowned upon really. The consequences of such actions are potentially catastrophic. It's also impossible to do intentionally. Time Lords of Gallifrey have set all sorts of safe guards against it. I have, however, managed to accidentally circumnavigate this on multiple occasions."

"And you're still standing I see? Catastrophic consequences can't be all that catastrophic." Dean scoffed. Sam's thinking face was on as he brushed the hair back from his face.

"But wait, if you're forced to forget what's happened in your future, how do you remember half the stuff you do?"

"Not _my_ future. It wasn't actually the fact that Dean and Castiel showed up that I forgot. It was the act of connecting with my future self that caused the partial memory wipe. And from experience, I can tell you that, from his perspective, most of the incident you two gentlemen just experienced will fade from his memory. It's like it's almost designed to. Perhaps it was. I wouldn't put it past the Galifreyen High Council to somehow genetically manipulate our bodies to add just such a safeguard. After all, that’s how we can regenerate, to begin with." Dean's eyes began to cross and Sam was nodding along sagely. Castiel and Gabriel just listened, along for the ride at the moment.

"So he, or I depending on your point of view, will remember _only_ _that it happened_ , but none of the details. They – the High Council - don't want you interacting with yourself…After all, if I remembered too much, I could irreparably damage my own time line and I can tell you, that is convoluted enough as it is. And even though they're gone, many of their legacies hold strong."

"That sounds like a god damn cop out." The Doctor shrugged.

"It is what it is. I'm only now remembering certain other details from back then, like actually being in Hell, or your shooting a demon to name a few. I remembered the two of you were there, but not the how or why or whence you came from."

"Whence?" Dean mouthed in disbelief. The guy was definitely an alien, if he'd had any doubt before. No one talked like that. Okay, maybe some of the angels might, but definitely not any humans _he_ knew. Okay, maybe Sam might, but like, on a lark or something, not as part of casual conversation. Well, Charlie might have but that would have been during a Moondor Larp, he was sure. Okay, so maybe it wasn't limited to non humans. He shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"So we're home, in Kansas now? At the bunker?" With a quick look, the Doctor was able to nod."Great. I'm so done with this. I need to take a loooong hot shower and then crash for a week. Oh, and we have to tell Krissy's granddaughter it's safe for her to go home. Wait, it _is_ safe for her to go home, right?" He looked at Cas and his brother who both nodded. He stood up, reaching down for the angels hand and though he didn't need it, Castiel grasped Deans hand in his own and allowed himself to be pulled upwards. The two of them headed down the ramp, a murmur from Sam barely reaching their ears.

"When you say they're gone, you mean the ruling body of the Time Lords, or did you mean something else?" Dean snorted.

"God, that dork. Needs to know every little thing."

"I think that's admirable, Dean."

"Yeah, but with our lifespans, kinda impossible now, isn't it?"

"It is a goal worth striving for. You sholdn't mock Sam for such a goal."

"Okay, Cas, I won't mock him…for this. But I'm still gonna mock him, y'know. It's in the big brother handbook." Castiel squinted at him, head tilted to the side, their steps halted rihgth next to the exit, but neither of them making a move to open the dor just yet. A head popped up nearly between their faces and caused Dean to yell and jump back. Castiel didn't react except to roll his eyes grumpily.

"Gabriel…."

"We discussing the big brother handbook over here? Dean – o! You _know_ its sacrilege to mention that around somebody's younger brother don't you? Don't you know your protocol??? "

"I…what?"

"Honest, it's on page 23 of the book. Gabriel waved his hand and a book appeared in his other hand. "Read it. Study it. Know it. I'll be quizzing you in an hour. Ta!" Dean blinked and Gabriel was gone.

"Sleep. For a fucking week." He groaned in an undertone. Exiting the TARDIS he turned and patted frame of the door and looked back at the column. He wasn't sure how she worked, if she heard or saw things. "See ya 'round, darling!" Castiel ran his hands down the same spot as he fell in behind his husband, sending a little ball of warmth and thanks towards her and feeling one returned. They stopped just outside, looking at the entrance of the bunker.


	17. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alls well that ends well?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnnd....looks like we're done!
> 
> Now the story is such, that I could always do more stories with them. I don't know if i will at this time, but the option is there if i have any sudden brainstorms. This is just a chapter of potential...we'll see where we go from here.
> 
> but for now, i'm considering this done.
> 
> Sorry, no picture. I can't settle on anything I like at this moment in time... :(

Epilogue

Dean walked over to the bunker door with Castiel, hands linked and wondering if it really was all over. Somehow, it had all felt too easy.

"Well, home it is, I guess. So, you think it's all over?" Dean nearly jumped as he heard his brother right behind them. He'd thought he'd stayed behind. Just as they reached the door and went inside, he heard the unhealthy sounding wheeze from the TARDIS as she disappeared, taking the Doctor with her.

"I, I guess, I mean. No more incursions on the cage, right? So no more Weeping Angels to worry about and no threatening evil genius mastermind cause Chuck stepped in for freakin' once. And the Doc just took off. Things should be going back to normal, right?" The three of them clattered down the stairs, Dean in the lead, having had to let go of his husbands hand to navigate the stairs. He rounded the bottom coming off the last step and froze at the sight of another version of the Doctor. This one with the bowtie sitting at the map table, feet propped up amidst the remains of multiple bags of popcorn, with his companions, Amy and Rory, on either side.

"Ahhh….welcome home!" The gangly doctor threw his arms wide and tilted the chair back. Dean was impressed, seeing how the chair was on wheels. First, that it was possible, second that he didn't tip it over and fall on his ass.

"I thought you left? Already part of this story or something?" Sam pushed his way around his brother, who was still frozen at the bottom of the stairs.

"Oh yeah, sure, but that's all over now. I just left, didn't I? And I don't even have to ask how it went, because I already know!"

"Yeah well, at least none of us died this time." Dean muttered, finally coming out of his shock and moving forward.

"Ooooh, do you have a habit of dying then?" Amy leaned forward on her elbows. His comment hadn't actually been meant to be heard, but she seemed to have anyway. She was pretty sharp, that one. Probably had to be that way to keep up with the Doctor, he figured.

"Well, not a habit I'm fond of repeating, but yeah, I've lost count of how many times I've died."

"Dean, the mystery spot shouldn't count. You don't even remember that."

"Fine, then, I'll count it as just one. Which means think I've died like, eight times…Sammy here maybe three or four…"

"Wait, what about the time you tricked me into letting Gadreel use my body?"

"Doesn't count man…you weren't actually dead, just  _mostly_ dead."

"Did you look through his pockets for loose change?" Amy quipped.

Sam looked at her strangely. "Huh?" Dean slapped his knees and laughed.

"I know, right? Good one, but no."

"What are the two of you even talking about?"

"The Princess Bride, Sam." The answer came from an unexpected source, Castiel. Sam kept forgetting how Metatron had dumped tons of book and movie knowledge and other random pop culture trivia into his head a few years back.

"The Princess Bride, Dean? Really? Isn't that a little too chick flick for you?"

"Dude, it had pirates and revenge and Andre the Giant. Who _wouldn't_ want to see that?"

"Well I haven't seen it." Sam's voice was petulant.

"We'll just have to fix that then. We'll need to set up a movie night sometime. Just not tonight, so don't you three get any ideas!" Dean narrowed his eyes at the uninvited guests and leveled a warning finger at them.

"But hey, so, back on topic here man, I wanna know if you're counting…"

"Doesn't matter…I think I've died the most out of all three of us, and you the least. I mean, even Cas has died more often than you." Castiel tilted his head and thought about it.

"I have died more times than I care to remember, but can never forget. I count only four times." At Sam's raised eyebrows, Cas listed off "Rafael, Lucifer, Leviathan and April."

"What about Purgatory man?"

"Neither of us were actually dead, Dean. I don't believe it counts either."

"Well, this is an extremely morbid conversation. But may I just say, that I am supremely glad not to be part of such an exclusive club anymore." Rory noted. "I can't count how many times I've died and come back under the weirdest of circumstances. In one reality, I was actually a plastic man and lived for over 2000 years!" He sighed, resigned. Dean and Sam stared.

"Man, and I thought _we_ had weird things happen to _us_."

"We do. When Gabriel forced us, _me,_ to live through our very own Groundhog Day where I had to watch you die over and over and over again, for months in increasingly stupid and ridiculous ways…I think that counts as pretty weird and that's just the tip of the iceberg."

"That sounds rough." Amy stared with wide eyes.

"Trust me, it was."

"And might I remind you, that you _still_ forgave him, Sammy."

"He had a reason for it, Dean, even if neither of us agreed that he went the best way about it."

"PShh..whatever." Dean waved a hand negligently. "I'm taking that shower and going to bed. And nobody better disturb me for a week." He started making his way across the room before a thought paused him. "Wait, why are you here? I thought everything was over?"

"Dean-o! It's just a visit! There's absolutely no reason to be paranoid. We were just dropping in." The hunter eyed the Doctor suspiciously.

"Somehow, I don't believe you."

"I'm hurt." The Time Lord pressed a hand to his chest and adopted a hurt expression. Dean rolled his eyes at how fake it all was.

"Whatever. Don't bother me. Unless you’re my husband. Or my brother."

"That rather limits the options there, Dean."

"That's the point." Dean turned and held up a hand as he walked out. "Night, bitches."

" _Bitches_?" Amy's voice was affronted. Sam quickly tried to reassure her.

"Oh god, no, he's just, that's a standard affectionate insult between him and I. I call him jerk, he calls me bitch. And our friend Charlie, she was, she was like a sister to us, and it was both her favorite greeting and exit line. He doesn’t mean anything bad by it, I swear. I'll talk to him about it, okay?"

Amy started to laugh. "It's okay Sammy. I was just messing with you." Sam's shoulders relaxed. He noticed, with no surprise, that Castiel had also left the room.

"Um, so yeah, could you just call me Sam?"

"Sure thing, Sam-mo. How about a tour? We never got the chance last time we were here."

"Oh, sure, I guess, yeah. Just, please don't touch anything without asking first. We're still cataloguing a bunch of this stuff and we don't really know what all of it can do yet."

Though Dean had wanted to, he didn't actually sleep for a week. He did, however, sleep peacefully throughout the entire night with Castiel curled up in his arms. The two of them never even disturbed by the sounds of the impromptu tour given by Sam. He was, however, grateful to notice on his excursion to the kitchen the next morning to make a couple of mugs of coffee for him and Castiel, that the Doctor and his companions seemed to be gone. Maybe they'd have a low key, relaxing couple of days for once.

Fate seemed to be against the very idea as Sam caught him in the hallway, when Dean had almost reached the safety of his room. He groaned inwardly. His brother had his "So get this…" face on. Shit. 10 seconds faster and he could have avoided this entirely. Trying to forestall him, Dean spoke first.

"Hey uh, did we get Krissy's granddaughter squared away? I kinda forgot before I went to bed."

"Oh yeah, after the tour, the Doctor volunteered to take her back to her car. She called afterwards to let me know she was all good and to remind you about the pie." Dean nodded and took a sip of the mug in his right hand. He stepped around his brother and went over to his door, left slightly ajar in preparation for this moment where both of his hands were completely full.

He'd just about managed to nudge open the door the rest of the way with his foot when Sam got his say.

"So get this…Turns out, there was a group affiliated with the Men of Letters back in the late 30's, early 40's. This group consisted of two members only."

"If it's only two people, can it really be called a group? And why do we care? More importantly, why do _I_ care?"

"Look at this photo, Dean." Sighing, the green eyed man turned around to face his brother and the folder he was holding up, open to the page he wanted Dean to look at it. He blinked.

"Wait, is that Amy and Rory?"

"It is. And according to this, they continued to work with the Men of Letters for nearly _two_ decades before Abbadon slaughtered the MoL. I've been looking things up on the internet and it looks like they escaped the slaughter, probably because they weren't official members and didn't base themselves with the MoL.  They continued their work, under the cover of mystery writers doing research, popping up occasionally in different towns until their deaths in the 90's at the ripe old ages of 82 and 87."

"What happened to the Doctor?"

"Who knows." Sam shrugged.

"Okay, and what do you want us to do about this right now?"

"Well, something must have happened, right? So, we should warn them."

"No, Sam. That is unwise." A hand reached out to steady Dean before he could spill both mugs when Castiel startled him with his sudden presence at his back.

"Shit, angel, I had no idea you were awake."

"I'm sorry, Cas. Didn't mean to wake you."

"It's okay Sam. But I really _would_ recommend against warning the Doctor and his companions."

"But why?" Castiel sighed at Sam's question.

"Certain things _are_ set in stone. This is one thing we cannot change. It would do no good to mention it."

"So we're just, what, we're just gonna leave it like this?" the expression of disbelief and horror on Sam's face was almost comical, if Dean didn't truly understand where he was coming from on this. However…

"You heard the man, Sam. Leave it alone". Dean started walking backwards, letting Castiel guide him through the doorway. "Now remember. I plan on sleeping, for a week." He felt Cas's fingers on his hips, a press of his lips on his neck. "Or well, we're planning on using the bed, anyway. Could be some sleeping. Eventually. Do not disturb, Sam."

"Eww…Dean, just…TMI, man. I think I'm just gonna head out. Vacate the premises for my own sanity."

Castiel reached past Dean to start closing the door. Dean angled his head so he could still see his brother before it shut all the way. "Good idea, Sammy. Maybe you could uh…go visit Eileen." He leered and Sam rolled his eyes. His brother could be so immature at times. It was kind of reassuring actually, that some things never changed, no matter how screwed up the world got.

"Try not to leave the bunker a mess this time!" He shouted through the now closed door. Yeah, making himself scarce for a week was probably a good idea. From the sounds of things, his brother and Cas were about to start their second honeymoon or something and he was still scarred from the first one. And then some.

It was true what they said.

Some things could not be unseen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe I got here, or that this is the end. This story was supposed to be a one shot. then I thought it would over 7 chapters ago. I really don't know how this happened! But i'm cool with it. :D
> 
> If you enjoyed this, please consider any of my other Supernatural or Doctor Who stories :D
> 
> And please comment! Let me know what you liked or not. There was a certain aspect of this story (Plot wise) that I was really worried about but could see no other way around, so i'd love to have a little feedback. 
> 
> Hope you had fun!


	18. Visual TImeline

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Visual Timeline of the Doctor Incarnations as they interacted with the boys throughout the story...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally went to simply expand the fancy one I had in chapter 10...but the file got too large. My computer, literally, refused to work on it.
> 
> It was either that, or the heat. I'm literally dying right now and its 11pm...go figure.
> 
> Anyway, I thought I'd try - for viewing ease on certain devices AND certain sites - a tall version instead of a wide version. I'm still not sold on that idea. 
> 
> However, if you find this hard to make heads or tails of, it's only partially the visuals fault. the other is that its damn convoluted! this was HARD to put together.
> 
> Also, i wrote certain scenes with the fourth doctor and K9 with no other companions - that doesn't happen in canon from as far as i can tell. not unless Romana went off for an episode or two. But, i'm betting she did, at some point?
> 
> Also, also, there were a great many times where Eleven had periods where he ran around in between adventures with Amy and Rory - there was no real way to put that in without making it a mess, plus we really don't have an accurate time frame for that either. *shrug*
> 
> but anyway, for those of you who are interested...the timeline:


End file.
